Another Side, Another Story  Tale of the Lost Two
by rikufanattic
Summary: Right after KH3 Another Side, Another Story. Exactly who are Dark and Light, and where are Amaterasu and Sora? Why are they in such danger? So many questions left unanswered now, and only time will tell when this will be solved. Complete!
1. Gentle Hands

**A/N: **Hey you guys it's me RF again, with the sequel of KH3 Another Side, Another Story! So sit back in your computer chair, or on the floor or somewhere comfortable as we begin! Yes and if it is confusing, it is meant to be confusing. Think of this as a mini series to the true sequel, like COM was to KH2.

**Summary:** This happens as quickly as Kingdom Hearts begins to disappear with Amaterasu and Sora. The tale of the lost two, those who are in scared ground, and those who can't say their true name. Why are they in such danger, and who exactly are they? This is another side of another story of the tale of the lost two.

**Title:** KH3 Another Side, Another Story – Tale of the Lost Two

**Disclaimer:** This is the first and last disclaimer. I don't own anyone from KH, or any of the other people I mention in here like from FFVII or VIII. 'Versus' is the name I came up with to the guy from the FFXIII trailer, and Lightning, is the code name to the girl from the other FFXIII, I don't own these two. I only own the idea of Light and Dark, Amaterasu, Vieh, and several others that will be mentioned.

Now on with the story!

**Chapter ONE:** Gentle Hands

A small orb swirled around the two fallen figures, creating a small glowing ring around them, hoping to wake them up in the process. The taller figure moved his hand softly, feeling the ground, it felt cold to the touch. He awakened trying to catch a glimpse of his surroundings and looked through the corner of his eyes. He noticed the other figure in the same state he was in, they were both on the floor, and their bodies ached. "…Uh…" he tried to call out her name, but the orb cut him off quickly.

_"It's not very wise to do so…"_

The boy stayed quiet and waited for the girl to wake up, and slowly she did, sitting up. Her clothes looked worn out from battle, and she noticed that the boy's clothing did so too. His gloves were beyond repair, and his shorts had burns on them, not to mention his clothing as well. In the distance was someone who looked slightly older than the two, and he was lying on the ground, he looked oddly familiar. "Is that…?" the orb hushed the boy quickly.

_"Don't… Please it's not wise to do that, all right?" _

The other boy sat up slightly and looked at the boy and girl, he remembered who they were quickly and smiled. He stood up, and walked over to them, but the orb stood in his path. "Please… Move… I just want to…"

_"I'm sorry but I can not allow that. As much as I know you want to greet them again."_

The girl sighed, and tried to hold out her hand to the approaching figure. The older looking figure looked at her for a moment and tried to grab her hand. "Just a little… Come on…" he strained feeling pressure hit his body with deadly force.

_"You keep doing that and you'll die even before you even get a chance to go home…"_

The two of them stopped, and noticed something separate them. The boy that awoke next to the girl stayed on the same side of the force field as the girl. "I'm sorry…" the young boy and girl said looking at the person that stood alone. He nodded, understanding what they meant by that.

"It's all right," he said smiling slightly. "Just take care of her for me, all right?" the younger nodded in response.

"We're gonna come back…" she said feeling tears form around her eyes. "Just you wait okay?"

_That's enough, he must leave now… The frame is starting to leave._

The girl mouthed out the older one's name, and he in turn mouthed out her name, noticing the tears that stained the cold ground. She started to run, but the other boy held her back, as much as it pained the two of them. "We'll wait for you, I promise!" the older one said, the ground beneath them started to break. The orb hovered about the two that looked tired and within a flash they disappeared from the sight. The older looking figure felt something wrap around him, and quickly his presence faded.

**Sunset Horizon **

Riku noticed that he was on the ground already, and he looked up at the strange heart shaped moon. He smiled hearing their voices fill his head. "You guys did it…" he said feeling a giant wave of relief come over him. He turned his head to the side and noticed something with silver fur curled beside him, he picked it up in his arms and smelled the familiar scent. "Hey, Vieh, we made it." He said laughing slightly. He didn't have the strength to walk, since he was exhausted from having to hold off the one who caused the issues addressed earlier.

He closed his eyes hearing their voices and smiled. "I know you guys will come back…" he said softly. His body couldn't handle anymore movement, he was too tired now, and so with that he slept. The silver furred beast sighed and looked at the teen known as Riku.

"Just how are we going to get out of here?" Vieh said looking around the desert. He noticed two figures in the distance and ran towards them on his four paws. Both of them were of blonde hair and blue eyes, but they didn't smell human to him.

"Hey it looks like that dog thing…" the blonde hared boy said straining to sit up. The girl told him to lie back down. "That means that Riku's okay…" he said laughing.

Vieh noticed that they both wore armor of some sort, and that they weren't human, since he couldn't hear any heartbeats coming from the two. "Where is he?" the boy asked.

"Over there." Vieh said looking back at the sleeping figure in the middle of the desert.

"You just left him there?" the boy asked outraged.

"In case you haven't noticed, look how small I am…" Vieh said angrily and growled at the boy, showing off his fangs.

"That's all right," the girl sighed heavily, pulling out something from a pouch located to the far side of the leg armor. "It's a transmitter…" she said smiling slightly. "Anyway we can't stay long, since the adventures over we have to go back with our original selves."

"You guys are Nobodies then?" Vieh asked watching the two of them nod back. "I figured as much…" he said taking the transmitter and pressing the button with his paw.

"Bye…" the two Nobodies said and they disappeared within a soft blue light. Vieh ran back towards his new master and watched the red glowing button from the transmitter he had carried.

"I hope this works…" Vieh said as he curled up next to Riku. The transmitter was sending out a distress signal.

**Several moments later **

_"Good you've woken up…" _

An orb made its way to the scene at hand, it hovered around the two teenage figures, and it seemed pleased knowing that they were finally awake. The girl looked up feeling groggy for a moment and moaned in discomfort. The boy rolled over lazily on his side, trying to swat the orb away from them. The orb chuckled and finally landed on the floor; the strange glowing orb broke off and revealed a strange shining figure. "Are we dead?" the boy asked fearfully. The girl covered her eyes, "It burns…" she said in discomfort.

_No child you aren't dead, and of course it burns, you are darkness, remember?_

The girl sighed and covered her eyes as she sat up. "Well then can you please dim the lights, just a tad bit?" she said timidly. "What's your name anyway?" she asked trying to force her eyes to comply with the light.

_My name, it's … Well that's not important, but I suppose if you want to know my name… if you wish to know, then it is …_

"That's your name?!" the two teens cried out in amazement. "Wait, so… But we…? How did we…? how can…?" the boy asked feeling his head spin quickly. "Oh man…" he said feeling his head spin.

_The door hasn't opened yet… So I keep my name quiet. I know your names, but it's best if you change them. _

"Why?" the girl asked, finally her eyes adjusted to the light, and she was grateful. "Why must we change our names?" she asked softly looking back at the shining figure.

_"All I can tell is this, for safety reasons within this realm. I'm going to allow you passage into this sacred ground, Hero and Messenger. You mustn't use the knowledge you gain from within this place for evil deeds that goes especially for you, Messenger." _

The girl nodded, knowing her title. She looked back at the one known as 'Hero' and he grinned. "What do you want us to do?" Hero asked bravely facing the shining figure.

_"It should be obvious, I want you to learn, and then I want you to spread your wisdom. Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens, do you understand?"_

"You're going to train us then." Hero said happily. "Here that Uma-" the shining figure hushed him quickly.

_"It is very risky to release your true names, or else many will try and find the two of you just on that fact alone. You two need common names, understand?"_

The teens nodded and sighed heavily. They didn't want to abandon their original names, they cared for them too much. The one addressed as 'Messenger' felt a wave of sadness come over her body, and felt tears fall down. The shining figure sighed and soon the girl felt some happiness come over her, the tears vanished suddenly. "Did you do that…?" she looked up at the shining figure quickly.

_"You will see them again, but it will take some time… Please do not feel sad. Right now you must go through the door." _

"What about the others?" 'Hero' asked referring to the other friends that were left behind. "Are they supposed to come with us?"

_"Where they tread, it is not as grave as yours. They will be there to protect you from those that wish to hurt the two of you. The two of you are very special to our future, come now, we must go."_

A strange looking door appeared next to them as the orb finished speaking. It revealed to be made entirely out of stained glass. '_Where's this thing taking us?_' the one titled 'Messenger' thought looking back at 'Hero'. He shrugged and with ease opened the door. Before laid a valley of complete nothingness, and in turn they looked back confused at the orb. Something didn't seem right to them, their guts told them to turn back. The orb heaved a heavy sigh and hovered past them towards the nothingness of it all. The two followed after it noticing no new changes. Shadow and light made up the contents of the room, swirling around like fog.

'Messenger' looked around and noticed something scurry past her foot. "A Heartless!" the one as 'Hero' cried out in alarm. He was about to hit it but the orb prevented such _barbaric _actions. "Why not?" the boy demanded to know.

'Messenger' picked up the being created entirely out of darkness, it meant no harm. She sighed and showed it to 'Hero' and he frowned looking displeased for a second or two. They turned their attention to the orb that was suspended in the air. It didn't answer for a while as the darkness and light rushed past their ankles in the form of fog, but it looked thicker than normal morning fog. 'Hero' looked around trying to figure out where exactly they were at, but he found nothing. '_This is the realm of nothingness…_' he thought chuckling to himself, and he looked back at the girl titled 'Messenger'.

The girl held on tight to the Heartless as it wanted to run around free again, and crawl up the walls. It ceased itself from fidgeting, feeling a gentle hand on its head, and the antennae attached to it sought out the arm of the one with the gentle hand. She smiled noticing how warm the creature felt, and the orb watched that small bond between human and Heartless. The hovering orb suspended itself by 'Messenger' and watched as the Heartless now proceed to sit on the young girl's head.

"That thing will probably chop off your head," the boy said shaking his head for a moment. He walked over to his companion and poked the little creature created of the dark element, and it hissed in reaction swiping its clawed palm with deadly force. 'Hero' took one big step to the side and eyed the Heartless suspiciously for a moment, and 'Messenger' soon carried the Heartless cradled in her arm.

_"Now, as I was saying. Yes Hero you are correct this is the realm of Nothingness, but you choose to believe that it is. This place has a true picture, a true form that only the two of you can give to it. Though it may not be apparent to the two of you, but it is true. For now I'll light the path, but in the future you must do the same for yourself, understood?"_ The orb shattered into millions of little crystals and light emitted from each one of them. The horizon beyond them started to crack and the Heartless was growing restless, as it jumped out of 'Messengers' arms. It ran away from the light, off into the distance where the darkness was being forced into.

Darkness and light melted together forming an array of different colors. The ground and fog at their feet became the color of dirt, the sky different shades of white and light blue. The grass started to grow to perfect height, with colors of light green reflecting off the edges from the bright sun. There was no darkness around the green valley, just the afternoon sun. The orb regrouped and looked at the two figures standing there now. "_This is the path you two will light up, letting darkness and light combined to create harmony, this is what we wish for you to do, to create peace with one another."_

**Sora and Amaterasu **

Within the sacred moon titled 'Kingdom Hearts' there stood two figures, a young teenage boy, and slightly older looking teenage girl. Shadows began to engulf the stained glass platform from a crack that had been previously created. Amaterasu, was a girl of light brown skin, with dark brown hair, and eyes that seemed to be almost as black as night, but were not. Sora, was a boy whose hair seemed to defy gravity, light brown hair, and of light skin, with blue eyes like the sky. These two watched as yellow eyes began to bulge out of the stained glass platform.

"This is just great…" Amaterasu said shielding her nose with her arm. The stench of the dark creatures was starting to become intolerable now with each moment that passed by the two wielders. She summoned her prized Keyblade, hearing the keychain finally _clink_ with the hilt and smiled. Finally their weapons were restored to their former glory but for how long, the two didn't know. In any case the two, with weapons at hand, raised them over their head and sliced through the flesh of the darkness. The creatures disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Sora jumped back and felt something collide with his head, he fell forward and noticed Amaterasu standing a few feet away from him. She was seen pushing them back left and right, and it registered into his head that he had gotten struck within the path of a flying Heartless. He picked himself up quickly and parried against the attacks of a tall shadow. He jumped into the air blocking attacks with some ease, and twirled his weapon with fast reflexes laying waste to another Heartless. He touched the ground softly and looked back at his companion. She moved with bursts of speed letting her Keyblade connect with Heartless, at some point the Heartless lost a limb or two, or even its head, not to mention half of its body.

"You'd think with the old man gone they'd stop…" Amaterasu said panting heavily know. She curved her body to bend backwards about an inch or so, evading a claw from taking out her eyes. Sora threw his weapon like a boomerang and noticed that after several of them died one pushed the weapon back with a shield. Sora growled feeling disappointed and summoned his fallen Keyblade back to his side. "This is your element, do something!" the boy cried out using 'Reflectaga' to shield himself from a powerful 'Firaga' spell, he looked back at Amaterasu.

The girl spun around and slammed her Keyblade on the back of a defenseless shadow, muttering something mockingly about what the boy, Sora, had said several seconds ago. Two Heartless took her by surprise as they grabbed her ankles and fell hard on her back. '_I'm getting tired…_' she thought shielding her body with her weapon. "Sora!" she cried out finally managing to roll to the side, a claw got stuck in the ground. They were intent on killing both of them. More Heartless circled about the girl hissing with all the intent to rip out her heart. The spiky hared teen reappeared with a burst of speed. "Reflectaga!" he said loudly, creating a barrier to propel the attacks of the Heartless.

_"You can't possibly think that you can defeat them all?"_

A voice was heard as the two continued their battle with the Heartless. Their numbers were starting to go down, slowly but surely. "Sonic Blade!" the two cried out standing back to back, and pushing their feet off the ground. They moved with energy that seemed to be only out of this world. With each burst of speed they seemed to throw themselves into the crowd of Heartless, knocking some back and destroying some. They continued that for a couple of seconds longer as they speed was reaching the limit. "This is it!" the two spun their Keyblades gathering some last strength and moved forward again, sending a shockwave through the area.

_"Why is it that you've come?"_

Again the voice asked out loudly, it knew that the two teens were intent on finishing what they started. Amaterasu and Sora fell to their knees watching the last group of Heartless fall. "Finally…" Amaterasu said dismissing her Keyblade. Sora sat down coughing for a moment, he was out of breath. They each had wounds to address to but they were physically drained to do anything about it. The two of them just wanted to breathe, to let their aching muscles rest for a moment or two. Sora looked back at Amaterasu and smiled for a quick second. "I can finally breathe…" Sora said happily.

"We did one heck of a job…" the girl said laughing slightly. There was a strange moaning sound coming from the large white door, and the two teens looked back at the white door. This was Kingdom Hearts, and the door had finally opened.

_"So this is why… I see you two did a marvelous job, didn't they, Light?"_ The voice seemed to be female. The two of them looked around to try and see if they could spot another person, but they saw no one. "_Anyway your friend is safe." _

_"They need rest, Dark. Come inside you two… Hurry that platform won't hold you forever!"_ a male voice said beckoning to two to come. Sora and Amaterasu could barely sit up let alone stand up, or even walk. _"Sora your heart is giving out… and that platform was created by your heart, if you knock out the ground beneath you will crumble! Amaterasu help him, hurry up!" _

_"I'll help you out then…"_ it was the female voice. As soon as the voice said that a dark shroud engulfed the two and they disappeared from sight. The two voices Dark and Light sighed heavily as the sound of breaking glass filled the area. The stained glass platform broke into more than a million pieces and they fell down to the depths of the area. _"She's too tired, Light. Poor things they're so worn out. I feel bad for them." _

**The unnamed figures **

_"Have you guys thought of a name yet?"_ the voice asked as the two flopped down. Their weight crushed the green grass that was away from the dirt path. _"Obviously not…"_ the voice chuckled and left them alone for a while. 'Messenger' looked up watching the clouds move like they did in any other world. 'Hero' closed his eyes breathing in the sweet scent of the grass. It had been so long since either one of the two was able to enjoy peace like this. 'Hero' closed his eyes for a while and sighed, feeling his body seem so heavy. Back in the realm of Nothingness he seemed to feel lightweight.

"We have to think of names…" the girl said closing her eyes for a moment. She remembered how soft the Heartless had felt in her arms. 'Messenger' sighed in contempt feeling the cool grass underneath her female figure. "Man, but this place isn't home…" she replied sadly opening her eyes as they caught a glimpse of something hovering in the sky. '_A hawk?_' she thought pointing to the hovering figure. 'Hero' looked at where she pointed and he wondered about it for a moment.

"I got one…" 'Hero' said feeling a bit proud of himself. "But don't laugh, okay?" the girl nodded she promised she wouldn't laugh. "All right, I say Dark and Light." The girl laughed of course. "Hey you promised you wouldn't laugh." 'Messenger' shook her head trying to explain why that sound of amusement escaped her throat. 'Hero' waited patiently as she regained her speech back.

"That was something on my mind… _Light_." She said laughing again. "Well those are good names, but do you think they're common?" she asked looking up at the sky again.

_"I highly doubt it. No human names their children after the two elements that have been around since before existence. At any rate those shall be your names. You the female shall be called Dark, the boy shall be called Light. Until next time my good friends." _

**Sunset Horizons **

The teen with the turquoise eyes looked around slightly feeling his head spin again for some reason. '_Where am I?_' he asked himself looking around for any signs of familiarity, he was in a room he did not know. "Hello?" he called out as he sat up from the plain looking bed sheets. Several individuals looked at the silver hared teen and they felt a wave of relief sweep them off their feet. "Someone go and get Versus," a plain clothed person said. One female soldier dressed in plain clothing of Capri and a black shirt, went off to go and get the heir of Elusion-Ilusion. A furry looking creature jumped off the lap of a sleeping individual and ran forward towards the teenager. "You're awake!" Vieh said happily jumping up on the bed and licking the cheek of the teen.

"Hey yourself…" Riku said laughing slightly. The door opened once more and they all paused looking at the figure that stood in the doorway. The heir by the name of 'Versus' had feathery dark blue hair, with bangs that fell forward, and dark colored eyes. The ones in plain clothing bowed at the presence of the heir and they immediately left the room. Versus walked over to Riku and sat the side of his bed, and Vieh sniffed the heir for a moment registering into his mind the scent of this royal figure. Riku pulled Vieh away as he noticed the little hound lift its hind leg quickly. Riku and Versus never did see eye to eye when it came to the person titled **_Atrum Procer_**.

"How are you holding up?" Versus asked softly watching Vieh for a moment, and he finally made eye contact with the one titled to be the next Dark Master. Riku shrugged for a moment and sighed for a bit looking down at his hands. "don't worry about it, they're safe."

"You mean they're here?!" Riku asked hurriedly at the thought that Sora and Amaterasu came back so quickly. Versus shook his head, he didn't mean to give Riku high hopes like that. The teen sighed and looked away from the gaze of the heir; a lot of things were running through his head. "How is Kairi?" he asked noticing Versus pet the beast for a moment.

"She's doing fine, a bit tired, but she's fine." Versus said standing up. "You know, you are one lucky child. To have someone who would even risk their life yours. Don't forget that." He said bidding himself good by and walking towards the door.

"You make it seem like they're dead…" Riku said in disbelief.

"We both know that they're not physically here… So who knows where they are now. But I didn't mean to make if seem like they're dead, I'm sorry, Riku." Versus said looking back at the boy with his dark colored eyes. "In any case, you know she' probably pissed because she's not here."

Riku grinned knowing exactly who the heir was taking about. "Yeah she's pissed all right, I feel bad for Sora though, he's going to have to be her sympathetic ear." Versus chuckled at the comment and turned the door knob.

"Riku… You trust the two of them, right?" Riku replied with a solid and definite 'yes'. "Good answer." Versus said and walked off leaving Riku alone with the silver furred hound.

Lightning, the Heartless with the blue eyes, dirty blonde hair that seemed to be longer on one side, who always wore a familiar crimson scarf walked in to greet Riku softly. "He's glad to see you awake." The Heartless replied softly, lightly touching the crimson scarf that hung around her. "I mean… I'm glad to see you awake too." She said giving a small smile towards the teen. She sat down next to him, but Vieh made no attempt to do anything. "I… I miss her…" the Heartless said sighing heavily feeling something strike her chest.

"I do too…" Riku said putting his hands together, and gently closing them within one another. "But they'll be back, they promised." He said smiling. "So then, you still working to get your heart back?"

"She…" Lightning laughed shaking her head. "You know she made me feel like I actually had one."

"Well, what about Versus?" Riku asked hoping that something would happen when he mentioned the name.

"Well what about him?" she asked grinning. "I know where you're getting at, Riku. I don't know whether I do or I don't so there I'm not answering anymore." Riku made a face, he didn't want that answer. "Anyway that girl Kairi, she's going to come down here and see how you're doing." Lightning got up and walked away.

**With Light and Dark **

Light sat up shaking his head, blades of grass had gotten stuck in his hair. Dark rolled her eyes and had to fish them out, since he wasn't going to do it properly. "You act like a kid…" Dark said softly taking her time to get the grass out of her companion's hair. "Anyway we should probably go now…" she said finally taking out the last blade of grass from Light's hair. "It's going to get dark soon." The sun was slowly setting in back of them and the only path that they had was to go straight, down a long and winding road.

Light sighed and got up moving around slowly, his body was still aching from the last encounter. The only thing he remembered when he was walking with Dark like this, the two of them had their Keyblades and everything was dark as far as the eye could see. '_Amazing how we even got here…_' Light thought chuckling for a moment. "All right thenm last one there to the end of the path is a Heartless!" he said laughing and running forward.

"No fair Light… Besides, I like Heartless!" Dark said running after her friend. The two of them started running down the path as twilight was beginning to settle in the area, giving off rich colors in the sky, of light purple, pink, and collisions of light gold. The sun looked like a huge orange orb as it was slowly coming down. '_Just like home…_' Dark thought thinking back to all the wonderful things she left behind. '_I want to go home…_' she thought running after Light. '_So we have to stay here and gather information… Till we find a way home._' She thought mentally boosting herself up. "Hey wait up, Light!" she said running as fast as she could.

They came across a valley of hills and something that looked like a town up ahead. Dark and Light smiled looking at one another, and jumping up and down for joy. Still they were tired from running that all the way to this place. Dark sighed for a moment and sat down making herself comfortable on the grass. The blades were fairly tall, and so they could make a good cushion of some sort. Light sat up looking up at the moon. It wasn't full, it was a crescent, and lights began to fill the sky, these were the stars of this world. Dark opened her eyes and looked up watching several stars come into view. She saw one that seemed to catch her eyes. '_Home…_' she thought closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep now.

**Sora and Amaterasu **

Sora sat up groggily and looked around for anything that looked familiar, he didn't find anything. Amaterasu woke up beside him, and she covered her eyes quickly. "Turn off the lights…" she said covering her eyes.

_"Light, dim down the element, please. She's still weak…"_ the female voice said softly. _"Honestly I tell him, and he doesn't listen, my goodness. I hope the two of you are well rested."_ The voice said chuckling for a moment. 'She' seemed rather pleasant, and it made the two keybearers seem happy to hear such a cheerful voice around them. _"Well my is Dark, and my brother is Light. Pleasure to meet you Amaterasu and Sora, we've heard a lot of things about you."_

_"All right Dark, there you happy, now? I dimmed it down a bit. Sorry Amaterasu, I didn't think you'd still be a bit tired after all of that."_ The male voice said apologetically. _"As my sister mentioned yes we are related… Anyway let's get away from that topic for now. You know you guys should be really honored to step into here!"_ the voice known as 'light' said laughing. For a moment Amaterasu and Sora could picture a face with a big smile on it. _"Okay… so I mean it's still pretty weird for you two right? Yeah I figured as much."_ The voice said as Amaterasu and Sora both held confused looks on their faces.

A tall slim figure appeared from out of the ground, and smiled. It looked like a Heartless of some sort, but with more of a female appearance. "I'm Dark." The heartless said looking back at the two with its yellow eyes. "I'm getting a bit tired of talking through that voice thing…" she said chuckling. "Once again, welcome to our home."

"Darn it, Dark…" Light's voice could be heard. A figure composed of snow white skin and blue eyes stared back at the figure known as Dark. "You always have to go and do that."

"Hey!" Dark said growling for a moment. "It's only been a couple of decades since this had happened lay off Brother!" Amaterasu and Sora laughed nervously looking back at the two siblings. Dark and Light apologized and tried to move on to another topic at hand, but it seemed impossible now. "I'm sorry about having to separate you like that…" Dark said softly looking at the two teenagers. "But he couldn't come, you understand that, right?"

**Dark and Light **

Dark woke up rubbing her eyes slightly, looking around. It was still night time, since the night sky was still in view. She muttered something, and noticed whose name it was, quickly getting her to blush. '_That was close…_' she thought covering her mouth slightly. Light was still asleep, snoring peacefully a couple of feet away from her. "Strange… it's not cold," she said to herself softly. Dark stood up and yawned softly, stretching her muscles for a moment and looked around. The town was still a couple of miles away, and she looked over to Light as he muttered something. She laughed hearing the familiar name, "Yeah… You do miss her a lot…" she said sitting back down on the green grass.

Something started to move quickly through the grass and Dark shook Light, to wake up. The sound was getting closer and Dark jumped back hearing a hissing sound. She growled and reached for something in her pocket, pulling out a keychain. The dark creature looked it for a moment with confusion, not sure what to make of it. '_Man they're here too?!_' she thought frowning for a moment.

_"Don't! They're going to find you quickly… Please just run away from it for as long as you can, all right?"_ it was the voice from before. _"I'll hold them off… Just run!"_ Dark pulled Light as quickly as she could, and the two of the just ran for it. They ran forward not daring to stop, not even as they felt a sharp pain in their sides. The two of them ran until the dawn finally broke into the scene. They were still quite far away from the town, but they ran, pushing their bodies to the limit. Another dirt path was seen just beyond a couple of hills, but soon the two of the collapsed, and all they could see was a man was had a canvas in his grasp.

The old man ran towards the two teenagers, and looked around to see if anyone was within the area. He saw no one and looked back down at the two children. He sighed, noticing that they had some cuts and bruises, but nothing to serious about it to be life threatening. "I wonder what possessed these two to do that…" the old man said for a moment. A voice entered his head, and he chuckled. "So that's your real name…" he said placing his canvas down for a moment. "I guess I'll have to wait here for the two of you to wake up." He picked up his empty canvas once more and went back to his spot, and continued what he wanted to finish, on top of a hill, he painted the landscape on where the two teenagers were sleeping by.

**A/N: Anyway you know what to do you guys, _one_ review please!**


	2. Silex

**A/N:** Anyway I want to take this time to say thank you so much you guys, and here's another chapter. Sorry for the typos, but I'm only human. Also some suggestions would be nice once in a while with pushing the story further.

**Sonic13:** Thanks for the review man! Yeah it's suppose to be confusing, so sorry about that. Anyway I'm glad you liked it!

**Rozen-senapi:** Thank you so much for the review, I hope you enjoy this one as much as you liked the first one, it's still sort of hard getting back on track now, but I'm sure I'll get back to top writing form soon enough.

**Tucker10:** Thanks for the review, though I really can't say who Light and Dark are because it's part of the story. Dark and Light only made their first appearance in the epilogue chapter, and in this story, so there's nothing that you missed with that.

Anyway, on with the story!

**Chapter Two: Silex **

The old man watched as something moved in the distance of the landscape he was painting. The female teenager finally woke up, and quickly with photographic memory he sketched the look on the canvas, a feeling within the artwork of dazed and confused. The boy beside her was still asleep, and it seemed to and to a good effect to sketch the boy like that, asleep. There he finally picked up the brushes he had discarded and began painting once more, '_perfect,_' he thought smiling as he continued his process of working. Dark looked around feeling like she was lost in a daze of some sort, everything seemed to go in and out of focus, as if the view around her would spin once in a while.

'_Is this place for real?_' she asked herself for a moment looking up at the morning sky. Light traces of pink and light purple could be seen as dawn was beginning to move once again. She yawned for a moment covering her mouth, and rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up. Light, the teen next to her, was still asleep and she smiled feeling a sort of emotion she hadn't sensed in a while, it was peace, but it was strange to feel peace in a foreign place.

"You fix it…" Light muttered gently, he was more asleep than awake at this point, and Dark couldn't help but laugh at that. She shook her head and looked around once more trying to see if she could find anything worth taking a mental note of. There in the distance of the summit of a small hill, there was a man with a strange rectangular object. '_A painter?_' she thought trying to figure out what that item was the person held in their hand, he placed it on a strange looking stool of some sort. "What's that man doing out here so early?" she asked looking around. The sun was to their backs. "That's why…" she said chuckling softly, "I hope we aren't in this man's way." She said softly biting the tip of her thumb for a moment. She looked back at Light and nudged him gently in the ribs, hoping to see his eyes, so that she would know that it was a sure sign that was in fact awake.

"I'm awake," Light said, his eyes weren't open though. Dark huffed and pushed his side a bit harder now. "I'm up," Light said moaning and turned over to his side, crushing more blades of grass. The girl didn't take anything he said for an answer until she could see his eyes. At one point now, after spending about fifteen minutes to wake up him, he finally opened his eyes viewing a slightly pleased teenage girl.

"It's about time," she said pushing back strands of her hair away from the side of her view. "You take SOOOOO long…" she said stretching out his whole manner exaggeratingly, "if the world was ending right now you'd die in your sleep." She said crossing her arms for a moment. Light noticed several bruises and scratches on her face and arms, and a cut near her shoulder.

"Man, we need a place to crash, and at least get some decent clothing and stuff…" Light said lying on his back now stretching his arms and legs out on the grass. He had several cuts on his legs and some scratches on his face. This was the result of a fight from some time ago. He sat up quickly remembering something of importance to him. Light searched the back pocket of his shorts and sighed in relief when he pulled out a keychain.

Dark watched as he was about to give the keychain form, and she quickly stopped him placing both her hands in his palm. "The voice said not too, it said that they'd keep chasing us." she said softly and placed her hands back down on her side. Light frowned for a moment and growled shaking his head for a moment, he still felt like this was all a dream of some sort, but still the pain was real, and one doesn't feel pain in dreams.

"Since when do we listen to voices?" Light asked laughing at the whole idea of disembodied voices.

He shook his head and noticed someone walking down from a hill. He pointed to the strange figure and Dark turned her head slightly and smiled for a moment, she didn't know why, but she felt like their luck was going to change. The man had left his canvas and other supplies there on the summit of that one hill and seemed to be heading in their direction. Light stood up slightly and looked at the man, he didn't seem to trust the new coming individual, but Dark pulled him down quickly, saying that there was a good chance he could escort them to the near by town.

"Mornin'," the old man said as cheerfully as he could. The two teenagers felt as though they couldn't speak for some time and it seemed awkward that they would freeze so quickly like that.

"G… Good morning, sir." Dark said regaining her voice back and bowed her head for a moment and placed a small smile on her face. The old man returned the bow and looked back at the boy, she nudged him again in the ribs, and he winced placing a hand over his side.

"Morning, sir." Light said lowering his head, keeping his eyes on Dark for a moment.

The old man seemed to have a plain looking cap of dark blue fabric, brown overalls that seemed to be aging along with the paint splattered on the front, and a white cotton shirt. He wore boots of a strange brown color, the heat and light from the sun was fading away the once dark brown color of the shoes he wore.

"May I ask what the two of you are doing here?" the old man asked crouching down to eye level with the two individuals. The two of them laughed sheepishly and looked at one another trying to figure out what to say to the old man.

**Sora and Amaterasu **

"…" Sora and Amaterasu looked at one another and then back to the room they were in, there was no color at all, just an endless void of white. Each step they took though seemed to produce some color, for one odd reason or another. Each step the one titled the **_Atrum Procer_** took a strange moving aura of black color was left behind in the process. Sora walked alongside the teenager, taking his steps with the same pace as hers. His steps left a strange glowing aura of blue, mimicking the style of movement as Amaterasu's. Sora looked back and noticed how far they walked, footprints as far as the eye could see, stretching for almost six miles!

Voices in front of them chuckled, and the two teen pulled their designated weapon of choice, Ultima Weapon and Way to Night. They pointed their weapons menacingly in the direction of the two voices, but quickly the two weapons were dismissed, not by the owners but by the voices themselves. The two teenagers sighed and watched as something like an orb of light hovered in front of their path, and it was quickly followed by another orb composed entirely out of darkness.

"Okay, okay… Sorry about that, we just wanted to see where you two have stopped," the voice known as Light said honestly feeling a bit taken back by the actions of the ones who wielded Keyblades. "This… This is just practice for the real thing you will encounter, think of this like a demo."

"A demo?" Sora could help but reiterate that last part. He scratched the back of his head and looked back Amaterasu. "Help a guy out here, yeah?" he asked giving her a big smile, the girl shook her head and sighed.

"Demo…" she said using one finger to show the word. "It means sample, demonstration, display…" the teen said using her other hand to count off the similar functions that the word had. The voice known as Dark laughed circling around Amaterasu, and the girl could help but laugh for a moment. "Yeah it's also used for samples of music and videogames."

Sora got a good understanding of what the word meant now, and he felt a bit embarrassed since the word 'demo' and demonstration had the same for letters in them. '_At least Kairi won't hear about this, I hope,_' he thought looking up; still it was the same shade of white like everything around the area. The orb that contained the voice known as Light hovered about Sora for a moment, and chuckled. "Humans and their emotions…" the orb chuckled for a moment, "I'll never understand that at all."

"Never too late to try…" the two teens said, chuckling for a moment.

The orb titled 'Dark' laughed and floated about for a little while longer before taking shape of a female Heartless. She sighed for a moment and looked at the two teens with careful eyes. "Anyway you two, let's try and focus here, shall we?"

The two orbs began to explain the issue at hand within the room. The two of them wanted to see if they could create something within this room before facing the real room. This place was to awaken their true power, of some sort, but how it would work, depended on the two teenagers. Light took his more human looking form and explained slightly about what to do.

"So then we… can create whatever we want here?" Sora asked, hoping that he'd get it right. The one known as Light and the other known as Dark made reassuring sound, that concluded as a definite and solid 'yes'. Amaterasu titled her head for a moment and thought about the turn of the events for a second, and rubbed the back of her head for a moment.

The **_Atrum Procer_** sat down, and a dark aura surrounded the shadow her body created, she lifted her arm to see the aura move with her shadow, and in the process she noticed the cuts had held completely. Sora took the chance to look back at the injuries he had received and noticed that the cuts on his legs were out of sight now, completely healed. The two figures comprised of the two oldest elements looked at one another and smiled slightly, as if they felt relief from that.

"This place for now, is your canvas," the one known as 'Dark' said sweetly. "There is no limit here, you are in charge."

"Human hands create so many things…" Light said in a kind tone, "yet they forget that they can create harmony as well," his voice sounded like it wanted to break out into a fit of laughter. "Make something."

Amaterasu and Sora looked at one another and shrugged, trying to figure out exactly how to make that 'something'. Dark sighed for a moment and looked back at Light, it was going to be a very long day, that was for sure. "I'm beginning to think that bringing them here was a bad idea…" she said looking back at Sora and Amaterasu.

"Hey!" Amaterasu said forgetting that she raised her voice, hearing her word echo across the area. The vibration of her voice caused something like a ripple beneath the area she sat by.

Dark sneered and looked back at Light, "And there you go, we have _something_. It's not anything big, but at least it's _something_."

Sora frowned slightly and stomped his foot down on the plain colored white ground. "Hey, it's not like we're _not_ trying, it's new to us. This whole _thing_ is new to us, give us a break."

Amaterasu pretended to shift a sort of aura that was in front of her using her left hand, mimicking an old relaxation technique from her prior days. A dark mist came out from her hand and it seemed to bend around the path of her moving arms. A strange figure seemed to form around her index finger; it looked like a butterfly of some sort. "Look!" she cried out in alarm.

"Good job, Ammi!" Sora said pumping a fist into the air.

"I wonder if you guys can create a town…" Dark somehow knew they would be up to the challenge. "If you guys can do that, we'll tell you something worth mentioning."

"You're on!" the two teens said accepting the challenge. Sora helped Amaterasu up and they came up with a plan. "You really think we can do it?" he asked her, and she nodded.

"There's no limit, right?" she asked looking back at Dark and Light, and they nodded. "You just have to believe!" Amaterasu whispered happily watching the dark winged butterfly flutter around.

**Dark and Light **

"Come on then you two…" the old man said watching the two teens walk up the summit of the hill. There the two saw the painting the old man had finished recently; it seemed almost like a picture perfect replica. Dark noticed two figures in the back and looked back at Light. '_Huh, we're in the painting…_' he thought smirking for a moment. Dark sighed and looked back at the faint lining of a pathway, '_that's where we came from…_' she thought, finding it hard to believe that they made it all the way over here now. Dark carried from brushes and a stool while Light carried a stand over his shoulder. The old man called them again, but by their real names, to get them to pick up the pace.

"How do you…?!" Light tightened his fists and was getting ready to face the old man, but Dark quickly told him to calm down. The old man chuckled for a moment and looked up at the sky.

"A voice…" was all the old man said, "now hurry up this is no place for two children." The two nodded slightly and walked alongside the old man, back to the place that was past a couple of hills, the town the two teens had seen recently. "You guys sure picked a good day to come to this place…" the man said looking back at the girl and the boy, they each held confused looks, "there's going to be a festival today." He pointed to the papier-Mâché decorations that were being placed over the entrance of the town. Dark's eyes began to brighten up at the thought and Light gave a big smile.

"FOOD!" they both shouted happily. "Erm…" Dark looked down for a moment as they walked towards the town, "Thank you Mr…" she bit her lip, they didn't know the old man's name.

"Mr. Brooks…" the old man said returning her gesture with a kind smile. "It's nice to meet you…"

"Dark…" the girl said nodding, "pleasure's all mine."

"…and Light," he said straining a bit from carrying the canvas stand, "thanks Mr. Brooks."

"You guys are going to have to find a place to stay for the night, until you go home that is." Mr. Brooks said staring back at the town. This place had an amber tinge to the floor, possibly due to the material that was used, with two story buildings on either side, that held multiple families. In the distance of the town there were elaborate houses that took up several acres of land, some with white walls, and picket fences, things found in picture perfect neighborhoods. '_It seems almost too perfect…_' the two teen thought looking back at one another for a moment or two.

The three of them walked down the side walk that started to form near a sign that read 'Welcome to Amber Pacific, please enjoy your stay.' Around them were shopping districts that seemed to take up about several blocks, with busy people walking down the sidewalks in a fast stride.

"The town isn't normally like this," Mr. Brooks said chuckling, "it's just because of the festival today."

There were lanterns that hung from the lampposts of several areas, and streams decorating streets, going to and fro street lamps and crosswalks. Everything seemed to so colorful and frankly Dark was getting a bit lightheaded from all the light colors that were around the area. Amber, white, orange, pink, yellow, and all sorts of different arrays were coming into view as several merchants from local business were starting to decorate their side of the street. The old man, Mr. Brooks, told them that the festival would begin once the sun went down, so they had some time to find a suitable place for the two teens. '_Huh, a new place and already something's happening…_' Light thought straining a bit as he carried the canvas stand.

"How much farther to your home, Mr. Brooks?" Light asked, and Dark noticed the strain in his voice. '_He's getting tired…_' she thought looking back at Mr. Brooks.

"We'll rest here for right now," he said looking up at the sign above their head, 'Amber Café'.

**Destiny** **Islands**

A silver bundle of fur ran around the shore and turquoise eyes watched the creature carefully. Riku was wearing a plain white shirt with blue jeans and black tennis shoes; this was probably the fifth time he had gone out to look up at the sky, just waiting for something to happen, but that _something_ never did occur. The silver bundle of fur came running up to Riku, panting for a moment, before making a noise that sounded like it was clearing its throat, this silver furred creature was named Vieh, who had been separated physically from Riku's mind when Ignis had been defeated.

"Don't tell me you're still thinking about _her_…?" the beast asked sighing heavily.

"…" Riku looked down at the yellow eyes beast, and thought about the words that came out of its mouth. He laughed and shook his head. "That's a lie…" Vieh said laughing, "I know what you're thinking, don't try and deny it!" he said teasing the silver hared teen. Riku frowned for a moment abut sighed, the hound had a point. "You worry about them WAY to much; they'll be fine, just relax and enjoy the fact you're back home." The beast said curling up next to his new master.

"Riku!" the teen and the hound turned their heads to looked back at the figure wearing a pink skirt and a white shirt with a black hood. She seemed happy to see them for some reason.

"Hey Kairi!" the two of them said smiling for a moment, well only one of them smiled, the other one just gave a strange toothy grin with fangs showing. She walked over to the two of them and nodded slightly smiling for a moment.

"I thought I might find the two of you here…" she said sitting down next to Vieh and Riku, "it feels surreal, being back home after so long," Kairi said, her blue eyes scanning the ocean for any signs of that _something_ that Riku was searching for as well.

It had been several days since they finally came back, and things for the most part seemed perfect, and it was somehow easy to fall back into a somewhat 'normal' lifestyle. Riku started his last year in high school, thanks to his mom who was able to convince the board to allow him back into pursuing his final year of education. Kairi took the same approach as well, so that the two of them could hang out a bit more. Things didn't really seem to change, Tidus and Wakka played Blitzball once in a while and Selphie hung out with Kairi, and things seemed to be going well.

With Riku, the new addition to the family was just Vieh, and his mother had a hard time accepting the fact that a figment of imagination became real over the course of several years, with help of someone who called himself Ignis Xehanort, if that could even be considered 'help' in Riku's mind.

Vieh yawned and looked around trying to see if he could find anything worth mentioning to, but there was nothing to speak about. '_You know Riku… Let's just go home, Mom probably made something for lunch…_' the silver furred creature looked up at Riku, and the teen sighed.

**Dark and Light **

Dark felt at peace just sitting at the café that had a light atmosphere. Light was happy to just have the canvas stand out of his grasp. Mr. Brooks had asked the children if they wanted anything to drink, but they declined the invitation of any liquid. Dark noticed a strange color that caught her eye. '_Blue…?_' she thought looking at the hair on the person's head.

"Aqua…" someone said whining for a moment. The girl known as Aqua turned around slightly and Dark caught a glimpse of her blue eyes, and the pair of earrings she wore. Aqua chuckled for a moment and sighed looking back at the one who called her name. "Oh come on Ven, please?"

"…" the one known as Ven sighed. He had blonde hair and blue eyes the same shade as Aqua's and he looked roughly around Light's age. "Fine, I'll come with you then." He said chuckling for a moment. "Hey where's Terra?" he asked looking around the specific person.

"Oh… He said he was going to stay home today…" Aqua said looking back at Ven for a moment and then down to the cup on her hand. "He's been acting pretty weird since yesterday, remember?"

Ven nodded and sighed, glancing towards the table at which Light and Dark were sitting at. Dark blushed noticing that Ven had caught sight of her staring and she quickly looked away. Light laughed at Dark for a moment and glanced at Aqua for a moment. '_She looks like her…_' he thought thinking back to his friend. "Come on you two, we've still got some more walking to do," it was Mr. Brooks voice.

"Yes, sir…" the two said picking up the items they had carried previously. As they walked past the table near the entrance Light and Dark felt compelled to look at the two figures titled Ven and Aqua. Out of etiquette the two smiled at the blue hared girl and the blond hared boy. Ven and Aqua returned the smile and watched them walk away. What caught Ven's eyes were the worn out clothes that the other two teens were wearing.

"Weird…" Ven said looking back at Aqua who nodded.

"That's weird isn't it Ventus…? He has those guys working hard… Wait but I thought he didn't…?" even as confused as she felt, Aqua managed to keep her tone in a soft voice, and crossed her legs for a moment, she darted her blue eyes back to Ventus, "Have you seen them around before?" Ven shook his head slightly and looked back at the figures through the window of the café for a moment.

Dark and Light walked lazily behind Mr. Brooks as he led the way back to his abode. For a reason unknown to her, Dark became curious about the individuals for a moment, due to something in her gut that was trying to tell her something. '_But we really shouldn't get involved…_' she thought shaking her head for a moment. Light still couldn't shake the fact that Aqua looked like someone he knew, and he chuckled to himself.

In the distance, just past one more road, there was a house that was surrounded by a gate. Several trees decorated the yard of the home, as well as rose bushes and a small fountain, all within the gated abode. The home seemed to be about two stories high, and seemed to be of good size. A house painted in white with a dark mahogany roof, along with borders of the same color. "Here we are…" the old man said looking back at Dark and Light. The two of them looked at one another and smiled happily, at last they didn't have to carry the equipment around. "You can just leave the stuff by that tree over there…" Mr. Brooks pointed to the tall tree by the entrance of the home.

Dark and Light sighed heavily finally moving towards the tree in front of the entrance to the home. "Thank the gods…" the two of them said feeling exhausted. Light's shoulder ached and Dark's arms felt like noodles. '_Though what are we going to do about a place to stay?_' Dark thought looking back up at the house for a moment. '_We can't possibly stay here…_' she thought looking down at the ground.

Mr. Brooks sighed and looked back at the neighboring house that was by far smaller in comparison. It belonged to a good person by the name of Lila Ser, the house keeper of Mr. Brook's abode when he was away. Dark and Light watched as the old man made his way next door, and someone appeared out of the doorway. The woman waved at the two of them to come next door, and they did, trudging slowly, trying to relax their aching muscles for a moment.

"This is Ms. Lila Ser, you'll be staying with her till the two of you can find a place of your own," the old man said. "I leave them in your hands Lila." The woman bowed and watched as the old man walked away. "What are your names?" she asked in a sweet tone.

"My name is Dark," the girl said bowing slightly. "My name's Light." The boy said smiling kindly. "Nice to meet you Ms. Lila Ser!" the two chirped happily for a moment, for now they had a place to stay.

Lila Ser, was a pleasant woman, roughly around her late 30s, with short brown hair and green eyes. She kindly invited to two teens into her home and they followed. "You two should wash up… But I only have one bathroom so, it's nothing against you Light but," she turned around to look at Light and Dark.

"It's all right Ms. Ser," Light said chuckling a bit. "I understand," even though he really wanted to go and wash up first. He watched as the woman showed them were the bathroom was located.

"I have some clothing for you… You know you guys dropped in at a pretty good time, today's Amber Pacific's centennial." The woman said as she walked into another room and pulled out some clothes that seemed to be for individuals their age. Light noticed that one of the pieces of clothing seemed to be a skirt of some sort. '_Oh man Dark is going to flip… I feel bad for that skirt…_' Light thought thinking back to his friend's personal dislike of skirts and dresses.

**Amaterasu and Sora **

"Whew…" the two of them fell down on the visually stunning world around them. Grassy hills, and wildflowers as far as the eye could see, with a lake in the far off distance, mountains covered in snow. It was still hard to believe that something like this was created by two Keyblade masters, but lo and behold there it was in plain sight.

"Impressive…" the two elements said chuckling to themselves. Black and blue butterflies rested near Amaterasu and Sora, seeing as how they preferred different colors. "Hey what was the info you were going to give us?" Sora asked as he sat up from the green grass, several blue butterflies fluttered about him.

"It's about reincarnation… That man, Ansem the Wise… Do you remember one of his reports, Sora?" the element known as Light asked looking at him with his blue eyes.

Sora looked back at Light for a moment and thought about it. "About the three things that make up life… the heart, the soul, and the body, is that what you're talking about?" he asked, noticing a pleased look on the elements face.

"When the soul leaves the body, which it lives in as a vessel, life dies…" Dark said remembering one part of the report by _heart_ so to speak. "Man beliefs in religion say that the soul reincarnates itself into the next person… Do you see where I'm getting at?"

"…" Sora and Amaterasu shook their head for a moment. An array of black and blue butterflies zipped past them off into the distance of the creation.

"Xehanort…" the two elements said.

"Which one?" the two keybears asked quickly.

The elements chuckled for a moment and left the conversation at that for right now. "If you can beat the two of us, then we'll let you know more." Dark said forming a pleased smile on her face.

"That's… we just worked on creating this place…" Amaterasu said stretching her arms out to show the vastness of the whole area. "We can't possibly fight right now."

"I never said it had to be right now…" Dark said folding her arms. "We'll wait for you two to recover, and then we shall fight."

"Sounds good enough to me…" Sora said looking back at Amaterasu. The dark skinned girl looked back at the two elements, staring them straight in the eye. '_They're strong, just by the way they carry themselves… elements as old as time itself. Can we win against them?_'

"Stop worrying about it, Amaterasu." Dark said just as easily reading her mind very quickly.

Sora stood up, hearing his shoes squeak against the grass covered in dew, and walked around for a moment, coming up to a crossroad. '_Why did I put this in here…?_' he thought walking down it until it came at the intersection. For a moment he remembered a pathway covered with Keyblades, like a graveyard of some sort. '_What did the Dark Master want anyway…?_' he thought looking back at the others that were at a distance.

Amaterasu pointed a finger up to the sky in the distance, and something erupted, ripping through the fabric of space, night began eating away at the morning sky that was within this frame. '_Fireworks…_' she thought closing her eyes for a moment, trying to imagine the colorful display light up the night sky. Sora looked up and noticed a loud _BANG_, with a shower of light colors dancing around in the night sky, he smiled.

**The boy named Terra **

Terra woke up quickly hearing his parents call his name out. He rubbed his eyes and noticed that it was almost time for the festival to being. '_Shit…_' he thought grabbing a pair of black jeans from the side chair of his bed. He put them on as quickly as he could, and grabbed a navy blue shirt from the closet located near the entrance of his room. "Terra, hurry up, your friends are here!" a female called out.

"Coming!" he yelled back grabbing a pair of black and white shoes and strapping them on as quickly as he could. He didn't care about the way his room was left right now, in this state it looked a mess but since he had promised his friends to go with them to the festival, cleaning wasn't part of the promise. There Terra opened the door and bolted downstairs.

'_Dreams… Strange dreams…_' Terra thought as he told his parents that he'd try and come home early, but it didn't seem likely.

Aqua the girl with light skin, and Ven the boy with light skin, were waiting for their friend Terra outside of the amber colored home. Aqua was wearing a white sleeveless shirt, with an amber skirt, and black shoes. Ven was wearing a white shirt that had an amber hood, and black pants with matching shoes. "Hey!" the two said greeting the slightly light skinned Terra. With that all of them walked down the sidewalk, towards the plaza of the town.

The three friends walked amongst a crowd that was heading towards the plaza as well. The night sky was finally here, and with it so would the stars the crescent moon. Terra walked in the middle of his best friends, and looked back at Aqua and Ven, noticing that he was the tallest one in the group, and he chuckled. Ventus, as that was his full name, looked back at him with a puzzled look, titling his head for a moment.

"I can never stress it enough but the two of you make a good couple…" Terra said breaking the silence. He placed his arms around the shoulder of his two best friends.

"Knock it off…" the other two said quickly, blushing furiously, and avoiding Terra's gaze for a moment. "Anyway…" Aqua cleared her throat and looked up at their friend, "Terra, have you been okay, I mean you were pretty out of it yesterday…"

Terra looked forward noticing the lights from the lanterns come into view. Everything seemed so colorful and peaceful. He looked back at Aqua and sighed for a moment, "don't worry about it," he said softly, "I'm fine. Now… let's try and enjoy the festival, all right?"

**With Dark and Light **

"…" Light couldn't help but laugh at the girl before him, as she wore an amber skirt and a black top. She rolled her eye and continued down the sidewalk, with Lila Ser right behind them. She had invited the two teens to come with her to the festival (even though she's working in the festival) of the place called Amber Pacific. Light was wearing an amber shirt with white bordering, and black pants with amber shoes. The two teens looked in the distance and noticed a crowd of people walking the colorfully lit streets of the town, enjoying themselves.

"Dark… Light," Lila called out to them as they moved deeper into the plaza. "We're going to meet back at the café if that's all right with you; I have to help with some of the sales, all right?" the two of them nodded and looked at the 'Amber Café'.

Dark and Light walked around together, not wanting to be far away from one another in a 'strange town,' as they called it. Several people in the closed off area were dancing to the music that was placed in the loud speakers located through several streets. The festivities seemed to stretch out through almost the whole town. Dark looked around some of the booths while Light stayed close behind her, watching around for anything suspicious.

"You hungry?" Dark asked looking back at Light, he chuckled slightly. "I'll take that as a yes…" she said pulling him along the crowds of people. The smell of food wasn't that far away since half of the area was comprised of eating booths. Lila Ser had been kind enough to give the two teens some money for their own personal pleasure. Light pulled the girl faster as he looked at one of the booths with hungry eyes. "Hold on…!" Dark said growling for a moment, she didn't like being in festivities that much, especially if it meant wearing a skirt.

She ended up purchasing some fruit for herself, and a plate of rice with pork and vegetables for her companion. They found a place to sit down by one of the booths and they ate their food. Dark wasn't that hungry since she had eaten before they arrived. Light watched as Dark began to pick at the fruit in front of her, it was sign he knew all to well from watching his other friend do that. '_…I know how you feel…_' he thought sighing slightly and putting his fork down. Dark looked up noticing that he didn't finish the plate yet, '_…I don't want you to keep from eating…_' she thought opening her mouth slightly and placed half a strawberry in her mouth. Somehow it just didn't seem as sweet when she was back home with _him_ and _her_, when the four of them were together.

"Out with it, _Dark_…" Light said using his fork to point at her slightly. "Come on, I know that look, _she_ use to do that when something was on her mind…" he said coming to a realization, '_I miss her…_' he thought when he stared back at Dark for a moment. She looked down for a moment, and placed her hands on her lap.

"It's just that… It doesn't really feel like a festival without _them_." She said looking back at Light for a moment, as he gave her his trademark smile, it was out of sympathy that he did it, and nothing else. '_I miss him so much…_' she thought looking away from Light for a moment.

He sighed for a moment, understanding how she felt, and no doubt she understood how he felt as well. "Well… We're just going to have to tell _them_ about this when we go back, they're going to be pretty upset though, 'cuz they missed out on the food…" he said going back to eating for a moment. "We still haven't found a place yet…" he said dimly. Dark stopped chewing on her mango piece, and cringed slightly at that fact. It was still true, for now they were 'homeless' in a way.

"Ugh…" Dark said putting her head down for a moment, "this sucks…!" she said slamming her fist down on the table, making several pieces of food jump.

"Hey…" Light said making sure nothing from his plate fell, "calm down, Dark. It'll be all right, you'll see." He said trying to be cheerful for his friend. Dark sighed, it seemed to calm her down for right now, but soon she would start something like that again.

In the distance Aqua and Terra were waiting for Ventus to finish his food, but like always he somehow went for a second plate, and then a third, but this was probably his fourth plate now. "Your boyfriend's going to get fat…" Terra said jokingly as Aqua blushed for a moment. Ventus was sitting a couple of chairs away from Dark and Light. He looked up and noticed the two people sitting on opposite sides of the table, '_Hey they're from the café, from earlier…_' he thought finishing his food now.

Dark and Light looked up slightly, getting the feeling that they were being watched. '_Holy crap!_' Ven thought looking back down at his empty plate, '_did they see me?_' he asked himself putting his head down, and watching the two from the corner of his eye, he noticed the two stand up and walk away. "Don't think we didn't see you…" the girl said in a 'sing-song' voice, leaving Ven with a rather embarrassed and confused look on his face. "H-Hey… Hey!" Ven raised his voice over the noise from the crowd. The two figures stopped and looked back at the boy. "Where are…? Are guys from here?" he finally asked them. The two shook their heads and staring walking away. Aqua noticed the two figures as they moved past her and Terra. Aqua's blue eyes locked with the girl's for a moment, and in an instant they were gone.

Ven finally made it back after cleaning up after himself and waved back at Terra and Aqua. In the distance they heard something coming up from the sky. They all looked up and noticed that the fireworks had started already. "Come on!" Aqua said puling to two boys alongside her, "let's get a good view from the hill!" she said nudging her head towards the direction.

Dark and Light watched the colorful display of sparks light up the night sky. The two of them sat near the hillside located towards the west of the plaza. "It's nice…" Light said lying on the grassy hillside and staring up at the sky, as more fireworks were lit. Dark breathed in the air for a moment, and looked up at the sky, watching as blue sparks dazzled her view for a moment. "Yeah…" she replied watching another display of gold and blue flowers bloom in the night sky.

Aqua and the other two stopped shortly noticing the two figures that were near the bottom of the hillside. "It's the two from the café…" Ven said looking back at Aqua and Terra. "I noticed…" Aqua said recounting the little stare that the girl had given her moments ago. "They're not from here…" Ven said looking up at the red sparks in the sky.

For some reason Terra looked back at the two individuals that were near the hillside. He couldn't shake them from his mind. '_Are those the two from my dreams?_' he thought back to himself, and shook his head, '_thought they seem like it…_' he thought and sighed once more, looking up at the colors in the sky.

"Woah…" Light said quickly noticing a menacing symbol from one of the fireworks. "Dark, look!" he said pointing to the figure in the sky. Dark felt her eyes widen for a moment. "Heartless…" the two said quietly.

"But we can't fight using the Keyblade…" Dark said referring to what the voice from before said.

"That's not all we can do, remember?" Light said flashing a menacing smile for a moment. Dark took notice that his teeth were becoming slightly sharper than normally. She quickly placed a firm hand on his shoulder, and she shook her head, "Why not?" he asked breathing in slightly. She pointed up, and Light titled his head back noticing three people looking down at them from a distance. "Oh…" he said smiling sheepishly.

In the distance Heartless with large round bodies, and those with biting shields moved about the plaza, disrupting the festival faster than a heartbeat, and several winged Heartless filled the sky. From the hillside it seemed that several mage type Heartless placed a barrier preventing humans from getting out. "I hate when they do that…" she said looking back at Light for a moment. "And here I thought we were going to get a break from them…" Light said joining into the conversation.

The two individuals looked back up and noticed that Heartless were starting to sprout about like weeds. The three figures from the top of the hillside were going to be in danger if these two didn't do something about it…

**A/N: You know what to do, _one_ review please! **

**_Silex_** is the word meaning 'rocket' in Latin, which is the synonym for 'firework' in English. This was inspired by the song **_Hanabi_** from Bleach the anime. Also I want to put up a 'Ask the Characters' chapter, so if you want send me a question via PM or review, and I'll answer it in a later chapter, thank you in advance, and bye for now!


	3. Subsisto quod somnus

**A/N:** Thank you to my readers and reviewers!

**Xejicka:** Thanks for the translation Xejicka! It's really going to help a lot, and hopefully you got my PM in there, so yeah. Ah, Vieh will now answer you question.

**rikufanattic: **All right Vieh this is from Xejicka. "What do you do when Riku gets mauled by fangirls?"

**Vieh:** To answer your question Xejicka, to be honest I just sit down and watch as he gets mauled, it kind of funny, and at the same time I _should_ be ashamed since I'm suppose to protect him, but those fangirls area crazy! One took his shirt last time, and I didn't even want to go near them, they probably would've taken me hostage just to get to Riku…

With that I think we should move on…

Now on with the story!

**Chapter Three: Subsisto quod somnus **

"If we don't do something they're as good as dead…" Light yelled back at Dark furiously. The two knew that the humans couldn't fend them off with just normal weapons. "Now help me out here…" he said feeling his other instinct take over, his whole body became as black as night, with sharp claws and yellow eyes.

"I'm wearing a skirt!" Dark said stomping her foot down for a moment. '_But still this is something we have to do… Darn skirt!_' she thought sighing heavily for a moment, and letting the darkness cover her body for a moment.

The two Heartless looking figures growled slightly looking up at the hillside for a moment, the more female looking one ran forward quickly, tackling a Heartless to the ground with a burst of speed. The three teens jumped back, noticing the figure appear out of nowhere.

"Let's go!" Ven yelled pulling Aqua alongside him, Terra following closely behind. The tallest one, with brown hair and blue eyes, looked back watching one dark creature fight with another.

As the three teens were getting closer to the town they noticed that several more of the dark creatures were in their path. Ven suggested quickly, to try and go around, and then make a run for the town, but from Aqua's point of view it seemed the citizens weren't able to get out of the settlement either. Terra growled for a moment and looked back noticing two lone figures running in a sort of feral state. The two figures leapt into the air and landed in front of Terra and his friends.

"Just stay back…" one said emitting growls.

Terra and Ven watched as one black figure moved quickly towards approaching creatures of the same nature, though they held shields that seemed to bite whatever came its way. The more female looking one moved quickly to the side with a dodge roll and the male looking one jumped in for the kill with its claws held high. The shield fell as the male one landed its claws deep into the shoulder of the enemy, and a loud bellow of anguish emitted from the creature. The female looking one rolled forward, and sticking out her clawed hand, she lodged her hand deep within the chest of the creature, and watched it disappear into a puff of smoke.

Aqua moved back slightly watching the look of malice on the _aiding_ figures. One winged dark creature fell from the sky as if to smack head first into the female figure.

"I got your back!" the male cried and launched himself towards the descending figure, knocking it down on the ground.

The female nodded and tossed the fallen crimson colored figure into a crowd of its comrades. The two of them stood back to back now watching the approaching enemies with their yellow eyes, they still retained some malice on the enemies that moved forward with each step. The sound of snapping jaws from the animated shields, and the flapping sounds of wings didn't seem to faze the two. The figures showed their fangs to the approaching figures with a strange heart shaped crest.

The ones with the strange symbols growled at the newcomers, trying hard not to let their presence keep them from their mission. Terra moved back slightly and his other two friends followed his movement. Something behind them took them by surprise, and the pair of yellow eyed figures from the front looked in back. '_Shit…_' the two yellow eyed figures thought looking back at the huge creature, with a huge hole in the middle; it seemed like the shape of a huge heart.

"Get out of here!" the two figures cried out furiously moving to the back now, pushing the three humans roughly out of the way. Aqua fell to the ground and winced at the force that was placed, Ven picked her up and looked back at Terra, he nodded slightly. The female looking figure watched as the three teens ran, making no attempt to look back.

"Lead them inside the barrier…" Dark finally said looking back at her partner. He nodded and with a loud roar he grabbed the attention of the ones called the 'Heartless'. Light ran through the barrier and turned into his human form.

"Looky looky, you stupid Heartless!" Light called out taunting them. "You can't catch me!"

'_I can't believe I've put with him for so long…_' Dark thought following the Heartless as they moved into the barrier. '_I hope those three teens are safe…_' she thought looking back for a moment, noticing they were gone from her sight.

Within the barrier there was massive chaos as people were running amuck through the streets of the plaza, lanterns thrown on the ground, streams and decorations left torn and destroyed. Just utter and complete destruction left for the citizens of Amber Pacific. Light turned back into his other form and watched as the biggest Heartless of all passed through the barrier with ease. '_Darkside…_' the two thought looking back at one another and they nodded slightly.

'_I hope we can win…_' Dark thought narrowly avoiding an attack from the soldier type Heartless. Something flew through the air, and Dark turned around slightly, the shield collided with the side of her face. She found herself on the ground in a very light daze, clutching her face. '_Damn it!_' she thought noticing she had gone back to her human form now. Several Heartless seemed to snicker as she sat up covering her face with her right hand. Dark could feel the nails on her left hand grow sharp once more. She growled as the noise from her throat became more beast like, and one brave Heartless known as 'Large Body' moved forward to strike the fallen human girl in the amber skirt. She left one eye visible, and the artificial Heartless noticed the yellow tinge in her eye as its fist was about to strike her.

Light was in his Heartless form moving about with ease. A shield had been discarded on the floor, as he defeated a Heartless. He held on to it, and noticed the front part of the shield was snapping its jaws in a frenzy. '_This'll work…_' he thought looking back at the Neoshadows and Defenders. A Neoshadow closed in on him, and he brought the shield, hearing the Heartless cry out in pain as the shield brought its fangs down on its arm. Light gripped the shield tightly and swung the shield to the side, knocking out oncoming Neoshadows with the one who struggled to free itself from the animated weapon. One enemy came from behind and dug its claws deep into Light's back, and he let out a howl of pain. He tried to shaking off the Heartless but it had a strong grip.

"Firaga!" the human Heartless cried out as flames of bright orange and red danced around him striking the foe on his back. The Neoshadow fell back and Light turned around quickly with the shield still in his grip and slammed it on the Heartless.

Dark and Light watched as Darkside stood still. '_This is taking too long…_' they both thought. Fire and Blizzard spells erupted from the animated shields and the two figures, disguised as Heartless, dodged the balls of fire and ice with some ease. Dark panted for a moment and Light threw the shield like a Frisbee, watching it smack several Heartless around him.

"Help!" several voices cried out from a street down in the distance.

Dark and Light lifted their heads slightly hearing the distressed cries. The two of them ran forward knowing Heartless with deadly spinning kicks. '_Damn…_' Light thought punching a Defender square in the face. More Heartless seemed to appear as they ran down the plaza. Yellow hungry eyes stared at them as they moved further towards the cries of the people. Light gathered enough speed mimicking a technique by the Neoshadows. He crouched on the ground for a moment and launched himself through the air in a frenzy of wild flips, destroying Heartless in the attacks path. He landed in between the humans and several other Heartless. Dark appeared from a murky puddle near the Heartless, and as she jumped out Dark swiftly attacked the Heartless around her with her claws.

A small child clung tightly to her mothers arm as she watched the sight from her eyes. '_Those creatures think it's wrong…_' the girl thought watching as the two human looking creatures fought back with the other evil looking creatures. The little girl cringed hearing the howl of pains coming from the enemies, the sound of claws hitting their designated targets. She froze, watching one human looking figure skid across on the ground, it landed near her feet, and the girl moved back slightly. Yellow eyes looked up at her for a moment, and she felt nervous. The figure sat up and shook it head. The other people moved back slightly to give the creature some space. The other figure threw a dark menacing creature towards another group, cracking the wall nearby from the impact, and they disappeared in the form of smoke.

The girl looked forward and noticed that the two figures were left exhausted. They were giving off a strange vibe, that they meant no harm, but their past action that happened moments ago didn't give that impression of a kind human soul. The girl noticed that the two figures where left with red stains on their skin. The one that was sitting up breathed in hoarsely and the girl felt her body as the dark creature turned to look back at the crowd of people.

"Stay out of sight for now," it sounded female. The figure smiled showing off the sharp pearly whites. It stood up and looked back as the other figure approached them slowly. "Let's go and get rid of Darkside now…" the female voice said coughing a bit.

"Thank you…" someone said, and it made the figures turn their heads away slightly, "we'd be goners if it weren't for you two…" they recognized the voice. It was from the kind woman known as Lila Ser. Lila had been roughed up a bit seeing as how they had escaped the Heartless somehow which seemed apparent for all the others within the crowd, except for the little girl.

"What were those things?" a man asked looking at the two figures. The two figures looked back at one another, trying to figure out who would answer the question. The one that had approached them earlier decided to speak.

"They're called Heartless," it voice now sounded more male like, "those dark creatures are taking peoples heart, and turning them into the creatures you just saw," its voice comprised of growls more than anything. The people looked at one another and talked amongst themselves.

"I do hope Dark and Light are safe," the two heard Ms. Ser's voice was filled with concern.

"I'm sure they'll be fine…" the female sounding one said with a slightly smile etched on her lips, showing off her fangs once more. With that the two figures disappeared, quickly jumping onto the rooftop, over looking the area for signs of anymore Heartless.

"They're all gone…" Dark said softly looking back at Light. The only one left now was a huge Heartless by the name of Darkside. "If we get rid of the big guy then all the others ones will most likely fall…"

"That's how it always is…" Light replied running forward, leaving Dark to follow him. Despite the pain and the crimson stains of blood on their bodies they continued to fight, to protect the lives of the innocent, this was only part of their mission.

**Destiny** **Islands**

"Earth to Riku…" someone called out impatiently.

Riku looked out of the window hearing the ocean meet with the shore, the sound of waves crashing; it never got old for him. '_Someday… Just for once… I want to at least see your smiling face again. It's been about three months now, you and Sora should've been back by now, right?_' he looked down at the picture on his cell phone. It was of a familiar girl in a stylish kimono. He smiled slightly and stared back out at the ocean that was near the building.

"RIKU!" someone yelled. Something hit the back of his head, and the silver haired teen looked down staring at the drumstick that was next to his foot.

"Ouch…" he said softly rubbing the back of his head. Another person grabbed the cell phone in his position, and Riku tried to get it back. He felt a hand on his face, and he grunted slightly flaying his arms to get the cell phone back. "Hey! Come on guys knock it off, give it back!" the teen with the turquoise eyes said growling.

"Riku, buddy… Come on you have to let this go already…" the voice belonged to Tidus. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. His hair had grown a bit longer since the last time Riku saw him, but he was still the same energetic guy that he knew.

"Yeah… It's not healthy," this belonged to Wakka, the guy with the orange hair who had a knack for playing with a 'blitzball' as he calls it. .

"Just give it back," Riku said snatching it roughly from Tidus' grip. Tidus sighed for a moment and looked back at Wakka scratching the back of his head.

"Let's just practice we're already thirty minutes behind schedule…" someone said in back of the boys. It was Selphie Tilmitt's voice, the girl with brown hair and green eyes. All four of them were still wearing the uniform from the same high school they went to.

"Yes ma'am…" the other three teens said getting back to their original posts. Wakka picked up the fallen drumstick and ran back to his stool. Tidus picked up the black coated bass near one wall. Riku stuffed his cell phone into his pocket and moseyed over to his electric guitar, making his way to the microphone that was placed in the center of the room. Selphie was in charge of the keyboard, as well as the mixing to several pieces that they all played.

"Riku," Selphie called out, he looked back at her, "do you still want to play our version of _Hikari_?" she asked. He nodded, and a big smile formed over her face. "All right then you guys, you heard the man, let's do it!" she said happily.

"On one condition…" Riku said pulling out his cell phone. "There's audio in here, I want you to see what you can do with it Selphie. You're better at electronics than I am so," he heard Selphie jump up and down laughing.

"SCORE!" she said running towards Riku. "So then, which audio file do you want me to mix in to the song?"

"Number 16 and 4," he said feeling good about it. Selphie pressed the button to play audio number 16, it sounded like a girl's voice, and so did number 4s.

"It's going to take a while to make it sound clear… The girl in this audio sings fairly well, not great but it's appealing to the ears," Selphie said noticing the smirk on Riku's face. Her eyes caught the background image in his cell phone. "She your girlfriend or something?" she asked.

"Something like that…" Riku said strumming the first chord to the song.

**Terra and the others **

A girl was sprawled out on the cold ground floor near a boy who seemed to be in the same condition as she was in. Their clothes were worn out and torn, the boy's shirt had huge holes in it, and the girls skirt was torn. The girl opened her eyes slightly and looked up at the sky, the night seemed so clear. '_We won…_' she thought forcing a chuckle from her tired body. Terra and Aqua hovered over the two figures, and were relived to find them awake now. The boy next to her sat up, rubbing his eyes, and yawned looking back at the girl for a moment grinning. '_They were asleep?!_' Aqua couldn't believe what she had just seen right now.

Dark swayed to the side a bit, ready to fall back against the ground, but Light caught her quickly, laughing nervously. '_Come on we have to get back to her house…_' he thought looking back at Dark, she nodded in response to the sentence forced in her mind. '_You think she's still in the same place?_' Dark asked the boy forcing him to open a mind link with her. '_Yeah…_' Light responded yawning.

"Are you guys okay?" someone asked breaking the mind link for now. The two of them looked up and noticed three people with blue eyes looked down on them. Dark and Light looked back at one another and laughed slightly.

"Yeah…" they both said in unison, though it didn't seem like they were all right, with cuts and scratches over their bodies, not to mention the ripped clothing. The two figures both laughed nervously looking at the state of _fitness_ they were in.

The other three teens looked at them with puzzled gazes that could be described as '_okay…?_' Aqua and Terra pulled the two figures up, seeing as how they seemed a bit worn out to even stand on their own.

"What were you guys doing anyway?" Aqua asked looking at Dark for amoment, and then to Light.

"Running away from those things…" Dark said scanning the plaza ground, all the Heartless were gone now.

"You guys looked roughed up though…" Terra said looking back at the two for a moment. "Don't tell me you guys fought those things?"

'_If only he knew…_' the two figures thought snickering amongst themselves. '_Hey this is that Terra guy… I thought he'd be a girl,_' Light thought creating a mind link with his partner. '_I know… Terra, it's a girls name… Well now it isn't,_' Dark responded smiling slightly.

"If we fought those things we wouldn't be alive," Light said looking back at the teen with the strange brown hair. "These two creatures helped, they looked human and they had yellow eyes like some of the others."

"Same here!" Ven said looking at Light. "Their fighting style was weird though, at points they seemed to be in synch." He failed to notice the grinning faces of Dark and Light. Ven mimicked the style for a moment.

"You're gonna pull something," Aqua said concerned for the well being of her friend. "Or worse you'll hurt someone else…" she said trying to get him to stop. He stopped and muttered something under his breath.

"Hey what are your names?" Ven asked looking back at the two new figures. Dark and Light looked up at the blonde figure with the blue eyes.

"Light," he said staring at Ven straight in the eyes.

"Dark…" she said sighing for a moment and looked down at her skirt. 'Woah… This thing is history,' she thought laughing for a moment. "Huh, looks like the skirt didn't make it…" thank goodness that it wasn't a short length skirt.

"Light and Dark, huh…" Aqua said walking Dark towards a bench. "Those are pretty strange names," she said. "No offense though," she said quickly. Light sat down next to Dark and smiled.

"None taken," the two said in unison and laughed. Dark winced and clutched her side for a moment. She noticed her hand was stained with blood. 'Shit…' she thought cursing herself mentally. '_Stupid Darkside, it had thrown me to the ground,_' she thought remembering how she got the injury.

"Come on we have to get those wounds treated…" Aqua said in concern, looking at Dark's injury. "My house is just a block away…" her voice trailed off as Terra and Ven helped the two up.

**Sora and Amaterasu **

Sora sighed and looked up at the sky. Night was starting to break away, since he changed time with just the power of his thoughts. Amaterasu was next to him, and she frowned for a moment, as dawn was being to break the night sky. Sora grinned and looked back at the dark skinned girl.

"Come on, let it just stay for a little bit longer…" she pleaded. Sora shook his head and noogied her. "OKAY!" she said laughing, trying to get a way from Sora's grip.

The blue and black butterflies made their way around them, and the two Keyblade wielders looked at their early creations. '_Simply wonderful,_' the girl thought smiling for a moment. She could hear a song play within her mind, and she smiled sadly, '_I wonder what the two of them are doing…_'

"The light known as _you_ finds me, in the middle of the night…" a voice said chuckling. "That's the translation for that stanza, right?"

"DARK… Stop reading my thoughts!" Amaterasu said looking up at the sky.

"I can't help it, it's so cute…" the orb chuckled for a moment. "Well the two of you seem well rested now, I guess we should begin now."

"I second the notion," the orb known as Light said laughing. "All right you two…" the world they had created disappeared and before their very eyes lay a valley comprised of light and dark. "You're fighting on our land now, so…" the being known as Light appeared touching the grounds of darkness. The figure known as Dark appeared on the other side, touching the grounds of light.

"Sora you'll fight me," Dark said snapping her fingers, and Sora appeared next to the figure known as Dark. Sora looked around in a daze for a moment, noticing that everything around him was as white and as pure as snow.

Light snapped his fingers and watched as Amaterasu came into his view. She noticed that Light stuck out like a sore thumb and she laughed slightly. "All right then, let's get ready…" he said jumping back.

"On your mark…" Dark said, facing Sora now, with her claws at a good fighting stance.

"Get set…" Light said moving about the area, with his fighting stance.

"GO!" Amaterasu and Sora cried out drawing their Keyblades.

Their eyes widened noticing that they Keyblades withdrew back to their sides. '_What the heck?!_' they both thought failing to notice that their opponents were coming right their way.

**With Terra and the others **

"They're asleep again," Ven said pushing back some blonde bangs away from his face. He looked back at the relieved faces of their friend Terra and Aqua. "They said that they were staying with Ms. Ser for a while." He said flopping on the couch next to his two best friends.

"Wow…" Aqua said thinking about it for a moment. "First we see them carrying things for old man Brooks, and now we find out they're staying with Ms. Ser, old man Brooks' house nanny…" she said looking back at the close door down the hallway. "Those two are pretty strange, ya know?"

Terra and Ven shrugged for a moment and the two of them sighed for a moment. "You know that Dark girl's pretty cute…" Ven said nudging Terra in the ribs.

"Those two are probably together," Terra said rubbing the back of his head. "It's always like that with two people, I mean their pretty close, wouldn't you agree?" Ven nodded slightly. "Just like the two of you!"

"Terra…" Aqua and Ven said in unison.

"I'm kidding…" Terra said scratching the side of his cheek. "Jeez, no need to get so worked up about it, unless if…"

"No…" the two of them said again, this time they were blushing.

Dark awoke slightly, trying to move her arm, but it felt heavy. "Light…" she called out softly, noticing that there was someone on another bed. She turned her head to look at Light as he slept, she smiled for a moment and sighed in relief, watching his chest fall up and down as he was sleeping. "You're alive…" she said sighing happily. She sat up, and noticed that her side was wrapped in bandages.

Light moaned slightly and turned over; he blinked for a moment and felt his face turn bright red. "D-DARK?!" he whispered. "What are you doing in my room?!"

"Uh…" she blinked for a moment. "No silly, we're in some else's room…"

"…" he cleared his throat and regained his regular color. "Oh… sorry about that Dark," he said staring up at the ceiling. "Unfamiliar ceilings…"

"Yeah…" Dark said turning over slightly looking up at the light orange ceiling. "We should get going…" she said softly sitting up, letting herself off the bed slightly, before stumbling back down on the bed again.

"We should rest…" Light said chuckling for a moment. "If they're asleep…"

Dark knew who he was referring to, she frowned slightly. "No, Ms. Ser is probably worried about us, and besides we can talk to _them_ later, you know that." She said scolding him slightly. "We should just thank them, and leave…" she said standing up now.

"In that skirt?" Light couldn't help but laugh at the condition the skirt was in. Dark felt her eye twitch in annoyance.

"Ugh!" she said looking at how it had been cut in some places. "See, this is why I don't like skirts…" Dark said opening the door from the light orange colored room.

Aqua stood up and looked at the door that had just opened. "You're awake!" she said happily looking at Dark as she stepped out of the doorway, looking a bit confused. "I think I have some jeans or something I could lend you…" the blue hared girl said softly as she was within earshot of Dark. "Is your friend Light awake?" she asked, and the female teen before her nodded.

"I'm glad to hear that," Aqua said looking back at Ven and Terra, they nodded slightly. "Listen, do you guys want to…" she paused noticing that Dark was lost in thought for a moment.

"Sorry…" she said timidly looking down at the wooden floor beneath her feet. "I was just… lost in a memory," Dark said looking back up, meeting with Aqua's blue eyes. "You remind me of a friend, sorry…" she said rubbing the back of her head.

"That's all right," Aqua said giving a small smile. "I wanted to know, if you and your friend would like to join us, to eat…"

"You'd bet you're sweet Moogle I would!" somewhere in the distance Light yelled happily. Dark and the others laughed as Light was jumping up and down at the thought of a free meal.

"All right then, but let's get you into something a bit more comfortable…" Aqua said showing Dark into another room that was opposite of the light orange colored one. "Don't worry; we won't keep you from going back to Ms. Ser…"

"Y-You…h… you heard that?" Dark asked jumping a bit. Aqua sighed for a moment and nodded. She walked alongside Aqua as she led her to another room that was comprised of light blue walls with white borders. Aqua told Dark to sit on the bed while she searched in the closet for a pair of jeans.

"I'll have Terra take you guys back…" Aqua said somewhere in the depths of her closet, among the many t-shirts, blouses, pants, and jeans she had. "He lives about five blocks away from old man Brooks, so…" she grunted as she tried to reach something. "Got it!" she said in triumph. "Try this on…" she tossed a pair of grey cargo pants.

**Destiny** **Islands**

"That sounds familiar…" Riku said softly to himself as she was walking down the steps of a familiar building. He looked up at the night sky, hearing chords from an unknown instrument. It seemed muffled by something. '_Walls…_' Riku thought looking back at the building for a moment. This was the place where they practiced for gigs, short for the term performances. He searched for something in his pocket, and his eyes widened in shock when he realized he didn't have it in either of his pockets. '_I have to be more careful with it…_' he thought rushing back up the stairs. The sound of the music was getting louder as he opened the door. Turquoise eyes scanned the one floor building looking for signs of the item he had left behind.

The sound of unfamiliar chords came rushing back to his senses. '_So familiar…_' he thought walking through the hallway to the designated sound. Riku paused for a moment and noticed that the door way open. '_I thought I closed it…_' he thought hearing the music loud and clear this time. '_That melody…_' he thought chuckling. Riku finally opened the door, and heard the piano play a loud sour note. He cringed hearing the strange note, and noticed the person playing the piano.

"Selphie?" he asked almost laughing at the question. Selphie sighed in relief and sat back down on her stool, turning off her keyboard.

"I thought I was alone…" she said laughing for a moment. "It was a good session today, wasn't it?" Riku nodded. "Heh…" she said fidgeting with something that caught Riku's attention.

"You found it…" he said breathlessly. Selphie was about to push a button when he flinched at hearing Riku get a bit upset. "Just don't… Don't touch it…please," he said apologizing for his outburst.

"I… I'm sorry…" Selphie said letting her hands rest back on the keys of her instrument. "I never should've touched it… I mean I didn't look inside of it, if that's what you were thinking, I just had it play the song that was on pause…" she said trying laughing nervously.

"It's… okay…" he said rubbing the side of his head. "I really should apologize, it's just that it's not mine, it belongs to…" he paused for several seconds, feeling the name lightly graze his lips, "… Amaterasu…" Riku said. It had been several weeks since he had said her name, without referring to just _her_ or _she_.

"_Oh_," Selphie said seeming interested in the topic of this 'Amaterasu' girl. Riku made a small noise of embarrassment, and Selphie felt a smile creep up on her. "Is she that girl from earlier, the one on in your background, hmm?"

"…" The silver hared teen felt his ears grow hot. Selphie asked him again and he still couldn't answer. "Yeah…" he managed to mutter slightly, though it was a forced answer.

"How cute," the girl with the green eyes said in a soft tone. "So then, this isn't yours?" Selphie carefully picked up the blue mp3 player. Selphie had a plan formulating in her mind.

"No…" he said softly shaking his head. "It's Amaterasu's…" Riku said lost in a daze for a moment. "It means a lot to her…"

"Then why the heck were you listening to _Swaying Emotions_?! Don't tell me you're getting feelings for someone else?!"

"NO!" the silver hared teen said, quickly waving his hands. "I don't…" he said chuckling, "it's just a song that calms me down sometimes…"

"Just as I thought… Selphie said finally coming to a conclusion. "You do like this Ammi chick!" she said jumping up and down. "Aww… Our little Riku's growing up already." Riku winced hearing that and made a face. "Does she live close by?"

"She… She's with Sora…" Riku said remembering the sad faces on the two individuals just before they got separated.

"Hmm… I wonder where they're at," Selphie said strumming her fingers over several keys. It was from the intro piece that was titled _Swaying Emotions_. The green eyed teen looked back at Riku and smiled slightly. "You think they'll be all right?" she asked.

"Without a doubt," he responded as the young teen was playing the melody once more.

"She has Paramore in there?!" she cried out in amazement, hitting a sour note as she looked through the blue mp3. "I love them!" Selphie cried out happily. "Hey she's got that one song, 'Duvet'," she said smiling softly.

For a small moment in time Riku saw _her_. '_Yuffie told me she played the piano, a bit…_' the silver hared teen thought, as Amaterasu took over Selphie's image. "Ammi," he whispered to himself, her image gave a soft smile as him, and in the blink of an eye Amaterasu started to fade away.

"Hey don't you have to feed McFluffiness?" the keyboardist asked, breaking the image of the other girl completely.

**With Kairi **

Kairi was leaning against the border of the open window, watching for any signs of falling stars, or people that just suddenly happened to fall from the sky. The red hared girl turned her head slightly and noticed a familiar transparent figure right next to her. It was a familiar brown spiky hared teen with blue eyes that held warmth. He gave her his trademark smile and looked out the window, giving her some brief company as the two of them stargazed together, just like they had done when things weren't so complicated. '_Sora,_' she thought giving him a big smile, she knew it was s trick of the mind, but for right now the girl didn't seem to care.

"I'll come home soon, Kai," the figure said softly, before it blew away like grains of sand in the wind. The Princess of Heart felt tears run down the side of her face, and she quickly wiped them away.

"I know you will, Sora," she said softly looking up at the night sky.

**With Light and Dark **

The teenager known as Light opened his eyes slightly, the morning light still didn't reach the room he was in. He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes looking around the area. This was the family room. On the pale tan walls there were picture frames of unfamiliar faces, and some paintings of sunsets, and one that depicted the view of the ocean. There were decorative cabinets with photos of the same person found in each one. In front of Light was a very low table, and past the table was a television set. There was a large and wide window behind the T.V. set with white and amber checkered curtains. Light slowly pushed himself off of the black leather couch on which he slept, and stretched. He stopped all of a sudden feeling something moist run down the side of his cheek.

"A tear?" he dried the single drop from his face and sat back down on the black couch. Light titled his head back and looked up at the ceiling. "Unfamiliar ceiling…" he chuckled to himself.

Dark turned over in her sleep, and slowly woke up hearing someone calling out her name. '_No…_' she thought, in and out of reality for a moment. She opened her eyes finally, feeling tears run down her cheeks. Dark quickly dried the tears away and buried her head under the beige pillow shutting her eyes closed. '_It's been a while since the Heartless attack,_' she thought opening her eyes for a moment, noticing that the pillow hindered any light from coming through.

"Light, Dark," it was Lila's voice coming from the kitchen, "I made breakfast!" she called out hearing footsteps from the family room, and a door open from the guest room.

**A/N: You know what to do, _one _review, please! **

_Subsisto quod somnus_ it means 'stay and sleep'. This came from the inspiration of the subliminal messages found while playing the theme _Simple and Clean_ backwards. Which as you can tell for right now, that song was my inspiration…


	4. Chapter IV

**A/N:** Sorry you guys for not updating for a while I haven't been feeling to well.  
Anyway I'd like to thank my readers and reviewers once again. Also if you have any ideas or suggestions put them up and I'll look into it, I promise.

**Xejicka:** Thank you so much for the review buddy! It means a lot coming from you.

**Rozen-senpai:** Thank you very much for taking your time to review. For now though I think it'd be better if you e-mail me her biodata since I'm going to have limited time on the computer. I will use the Compass of Chaos and Order soon. Other than that I'm glad you like the story so far, and happy readings and reviewing, until later!

**From Xejicka to Amaterasu:** I saw a few picture on the internet of Sora and Riku in compromising positions, how do you feel about that? I know I would freak out. (Everytime I see them I wish I was blind)

**Amaterasu: **Hey wait... What? I don't think it's Riku in those pictures though to be honest with you, though I know for a fact Kairi's going to be very mad, but still... I don't think anything of it though because I love him...

With that on with the story!

**Chapter Four: Meus oculus volo video vidi visum a ray of lux lucis **

"Amber Pacific," one figure said staring at the projection that was placed before their eyes. "This is where they're at from what we can tell then," the figure said staring at the other figures dressed in black. "Their presence is faint…" the figure said.

"_It_ really thought that _it_ could really hide these two from us…" another one said crossing their legs for a moment. "How _cute_," the figure said sarcastically.

"What about _him_?" someone else asked, the feeling of concern was emphasized in the speech.

"He's not there," another figure said feeling rather shy to speak out amongst the other number of peers.

"_It _created a fake world just for those two," a slightly tall figure said pointing to the world known as 'Amber Pacific'. Several other images were either above or below the world. "It's bordering between the world of In-between and Light."

"_Wow_… You figured that all on your own, Xehart?" another voice called out teasing the slightly taller figure.

"Shut up, Xiaga!" the one know as Xehart growled.

"Ya know, this doesn't feel like a very organized organization."

"Number 8, hold your tongue!"

"I'm just joking, number 5."

"…" the figures looked back at the one that seemed to be in charge, and they each gulped.

"Sorry, Superior," the four figures sad in unison.

"Now let's _try_ and focus." Someone said near the superior.

**Sora and Amaterasu **

'_We can't win…_' the Keyblade's 'Chosen One' thought, feeling a palm connect with his chest.

"Sora!" a familiar voice called out. Sora's body connected with the white pure ground, and he skidded across the ground several feet away from the attacker. Sora turned over slowly on his stomach, and slowly picked himself up. He looked to the left and noticed an apparition of a certain female acquaintance.

"Ammi?" he blinked, still finding her transparent image near him. She had her hands on her knees and leaned forward. The girl, Amaterasu was relieved to see him stand up. She gave him a tired smile. "What are…?" he didn't have time to finish his question, as he saw her jump back to avoid a kick from the left of her own attacker.

"Sora, move!" she cried out noticing him get distracted by her presence. He looked up and noticed Dark was coming in fast. He barely had time to roll to the side, noticing that Dark wasn't going to be a pushover. The elemental figure growled for a moment and looked back at Amaterasu for a several seconds and smiled.

"They're projections, see Amaterasu can see you the way you see her. It's just to see how your partner is doing, that's all." Dark said dusting herself off, seeing as the last attack failed. "Anyway try and not get distracted, this is an important fight, and well, even though I'm fighting in your element, it doesn't always mean you'll win, understand?"

Sora ran forward and tried to punch the being known as Dark, but she seemed to move to fast for him for reasons unknown to Keyblade wielder. "Why can't we use our Keyblades?!" he boy asked lifting up his knee to block a low kick. Her attack collided with the boy's shin, and the feeling of pain registered into his mind, but he chose not to act out on it. Sora winced slightly and watched as the elemental figure pulled away and chuckling for a moment.

"We control everything that goes on in this place…" Dark said stretching out her arms to demonstrate the magnitude of what she meant by, "That goes the same for the Keyblades, they are our creations so to speak… We're what make up the heart, and the world, light and shadow…" the element said. Sora noticed that her eyes held a sort of malice within them.

'_Damn… She's strong, and that means that Ammi isn't doing so well either…_' he thought jumping back, avoiding a dark aura from striking him down. '_Remember the Keyblade isn't your only weapon…_' it was Dark's voice. Sora's blue eyes shot up at Dark, '_why are you helping me?_' he asked her running forward. '_Because, you're the Keyblade's "_ _Chosen__ One" and we don't want anything to happen to you…_' she replied and brought her fist forward.

Sora felt his body turn cold for a moment, as Dark's punch collided with the side of his face. '_Stupid…_' he thought mentally cursing at himself for not moving fast enough. Another collision from a kick and he was lifted up into the air, staring at the white sky above him, it was the same color as the ground below him. '_I can't win, no matter how hard I try… without the Keyblade…_'

_Operor non credo adeo in mihi _

'_Who are you…?_' his mind asked the voice, and the voice chuckled. '_Don't rely on me so much… Show her what you're made of…_' the voice said going back to Sora's native tongue. Sora's eyes flashed from blue to yellow as he made his way down to the white pure ground. '_That voice sounds familiar…_' Sora thought as he landed on the ground like a cat. Dark seemed pleased by the reflex Sora seemed to be demonstrating, and chuckled for a moment. Sora growled menacingly and stared at Dark with his own yellow eyes. The element known, as Dark, knew that she was going to have to push the boy to her limit to awaken the power locked within his heart.

Sora growled once more running on all fours as his body began to turn dark. '_All right kid; let's see what you got…_' Dark thought crouching in a defensive position. Her claws were sharp and ready, and her own dark skin and eyes seemed to be on par with Sora's Anti-Form. She grinned watching Sora leap into the air, bring his clawed hand back, roaring as loud as he could to show her he wasn't going to hold back.

**With Dark and Light **

"Light…? Helllllooooo?" someone was trying to grab the teenager's attention, but he didn't seem to flinch or anything of the sort. The person sighed and looked back at the other people that were with them. "He's gone you guys…" the person said chuckling slightly.

"Let me try…" someone said stepping up to bat, so to speak.

_Smack!_

"What was that for?!" Light finally snapped out of his daze and looked up at Dark, she gave a smile and stuck out her tongue at him. Light rolled his eyes and covered the injured area of his head with his hand, having little tears form around his eyes. "That hurt…" he said whining for a moment.

"You zoned out on us pretty quick…" Aqua said.

"Sorry," Light muttered. Dark met Light's gaze, noticing that he was glaring at her for a moment. Dark gave him a small pleasant smile and her companion frowned for a couple of seconds. Aqua scratched the side of her head, and chuckled. '_What was it that we were talking about anyway?_' he tried his best to remember but it seemed like it was no use. "Anyway, erm…" he scratched the side of his cheek and gave a big smile.

"Oh yeah!" Ventus sat up straight, in his chair. "We're going to the mall, remember you guys?" he looked back at Aqua, Terra, and their two new friends. Light and Dark looked back at one another and shrugged, they had completely forgotten about the plans they had made with Ven and his friends. "Don't tell me you guys forgot?" Ven's blue eyes looked back at Light and Dark.

"Sorry, Mr. Brooks has us working really hard," the female known as Dark said apologetically. She twirled her thumbs around in a circular motion and sighed heavily. The young teen crossed her legs and looked down at her white tennis shoes.

"We just… sort of lose track of time," Light said looking up at Ven. The others sympathized with them. It had been at least a week or so since Light and Dark moved from Ms. Ser's home to Mr. Brooks's vast abode. "Anyway, come on, let's go!" Light said energetically jumping up from his seat.

"All right then, let's go!" Ven said standing up from his seat. Light and Ven high-fived each other and looked back at the other three people with huge smiles plastered on their faces. Light grabbed Dark's hand and pulled her up from the seat. Ven held out his hand to Aqua and accepted the offer. Terra shook his head, laughing and stood up walking out the door with the two couples, so to speak.

All of the teens walked out of the familiar café and strolled down the sidewalk aiming for a longer path to tread on. For some reason, to Light and Dark, this world had an amber tinge to everything, every time they walked by a building or something like a fruit stand, or even a hot dog stand. The cobbled sidewalks from certain areas were grey with amber, at least it was something. Besides that the two new people within the group thought that the world seemed like something out of a fairytale, except for the Heartless attack that happened several weeks ago, it had almost been a month since the attack.

"Hey let's go to the beach later on…"

"Beach?" two voices asked.

"Yeah, there's a beach…" one hand pointed to the far west. "We've got to take a train though…"

"We don't have anything for something like that…" the two familiar voices said feeling left out.

"I can lend you something, Light."

"Thanks Ven…"

"Yeah I can lend you something, Dark."

"You don't really have to, I'll just…"

"Nonsense!" Aqua said stopping from their little adventure to the mall. Dark sighed in defeat and they all continued on their way towards the mall. Terra walked next to Dark seeing as how the two of them were quite a bit behind the others. They all continued their little _adventure_ down the sidewalks of 'Amber Pacific' and the two newcomers hoped that the journey to the mall would end soon, due to the fact that they were still sore from helping Mr. Brooks move and carry stuff from one area to another.

The sun was still high in the sky, which was a good sign to all seeing as how they could all hang out for a couple of more hours before going home. Light and Ven were talking about something called tempura, and Aqua was telling them to pipe down, seeing as how she was hungry, the two boys continued to tease her about food more and more. Terra and Dark laughed at the actions of their friends. Dark and Terra eyed each other rather nervously. '_She seems so familiar… but from where?_' he thought getting lost in his contemplation for a moment. Dark titled her head for a moment and looked at Terra, '_he got lost in thought then… now wonder he keeps looking at me, or I think it's that he's looking past me…_' the girl thought placing her hands in back of her head, and continued walking down the sidewalk.

"Come on Terra…" she said looking back at the blue eyed, brown hared boy. "We're WAY behind now," Dark said stopping for a moment hoping to catch the boy's attention. Terra broke out of his daze and followed after her and the others.

Light looked back, noticing that Terra and his close companion were walking together. He smiled slightly and sighed for a moment. '_In a way Terra is like _him_ so I wouldn't be surprised, but still,_' he sighed for a moment and tried to let it go. '_She's like **her** too, but you don't see me flirting with her…_' Light forced a mind link with his close companion.

'_Very funny mister… I don't like him like that…_' Dark responded, her words echoing through the halls of his mind. '_Besides from what we know he thinks we're together…_' she could help but laugh softly.

'_Don't remind me…_' Light gave a big smile towards the people that were catching up behind them. Dark jumped on Light's back, and he stumbled forward a bit. '_Don't say I'm heavy… I know you're thinking it, mister,_' Dark rushed in her sentence, feeding it through his mind.

Light grinned and carried her anyway. '_At least you're not as heavy as **her** …_' Light said and terminated the mind link as quickly as he could before Dark could get a word in edgewise. Dark growled for a moment and tightened the grip that was around Light's neck, he made a small noise. "Okay… Sorry…" he managed to mutter softly towards his companion. Dark grinned in triumph and Light let her go.

"Hey come on you two lovebirds…" Terra said looking back at Dark and Light. The two teenagers made a face and walked forward once more.

Somewhere in the distance a figure was fidgeting with a camera phone. "I can't believe they got me stuck doing this…" the figure sighed heavily and pushed back some strands of hair. Beside the figure was a black coat that hung next to an adjacent chair. The figure was sitting down outside of the area, watching people pass by the screen through the camera phone. "Come on where are you guys…?" the person talked to themselves slightly, whispering a little chant to get the awaited figures on the screen, "…nope…" there were two teenagers walking down the street, "maybe?" the figure zoomed in, looking at a one group of five teens running down the sidewalk. "BINGO!" the figure cried out triumphantly knocking their chair back. Several people stopped what they were doing and looked at the figure waving their camera phone in the air triumphantly.

Dark and Aqua both yawned for a moment and shook their heads. The heat from the sun was getting to them, and Ven reassured Dark and his good friend Aqua that the mall wasn't that far away now. "That's what you said thirty minutes ago…" the two females responded quickly, and Ven stumbled forward for a moment. Just up ahead there was a building that seemed to be of an enormous stature, this was the mall that Ven had been talking about earlier. "Wow… it's nothing like the one back home…" Light said looking back at the others, Dark gave slightly smile and looked forward. "Hey what do you think would happen if there was an earthquake of…?"

"Don't start with that again…" Ven said pouting for a moment towards Dark. "First with the flat screen, remember?" Dark chuckled remembering that event. "We got a new flat screen and the very first thing you said, imagine what would happen it, if an earthquake struck…"

Dark rolled her eyes and sighed heavily walking forward to get a better look at the building. Ven and Aqua walked after her and Terra and Light followed behind. Terra still couldn't help but think he knew these two for some reason, and it was staring to bug him for a bit. '_I can't ask them right now… Or even at all,_' the slightly older teen thought looking away to a nearby open café, someone had dropped their chair for some reason. He shook his head and noticed that Light had stopped, looking at the incident for a moment. '_Something doesn't feel right…_' Light thought looking at the person for a moment, '_maybe I'm just being paranoid…_' he shrugged a response to Terra and the two of them continued to walk towards the mall.

"So then, where _are_ you guys from?" Terra asked noticing that Light flinched for a moment as the question ended. Light scratched the back of his head and looked around for, hoping to jump to another topic but he couldn't think of anything at the moment.

"Someplace far away," Light said looking up at Terra for a moment. Terra laughed and shook his head.

"I know that…" Terra said walking forward once again. "I want to know from _where_."

"I… don't remember," Light said. Dark was within earshot and she sighed slightly for a moment. '_That's a lie,_' she thought looking back at Aqua and Ven for a moment, and walked away from the conversation.

**Destiny** **Islands**

Vieh let out a slight yawn and peered out the window, seeing as how Riku was gone for the day. '_Ugh all he does is go, and go, and go…_' the little silver hound thought jumping down from the edge of the window. His claws made a slight _click_ sound as he walked across the room. The beat looked up and noticed that the door was closed. "That jerk probably locked it…" he said to himself and scratched the door with his paw, and began to whine. '_I hate doing this…_' he thought to himself hoping that soon Riku's mother would open the door for him. He stopped his action upon hearing the door creak open and he looked up, noticing a woman with a slight smile and turquoise eyes.

"You'd think he'd figure out you hate being locked up, huh Vieh?" the woman asked walking down the hallway once more.

"Thank you…" Vieh said softly. The silver hound knew that the mother of his master knew that he could speak; she just never chose to stay around and chat. Vieh walked about breathing in the different scents that the home produced and he sighed for a moment. "I miss that smell…" he said softly carefully descending the stairs of the home. "Such a sweet smell… I understand why he likes being near _her_, because of how she smells, or maybe…" he jumped the last step, "maybe he does _love_ her." He said softly to himself snickering for a moment.

'_I wonder what that boy and Ammi are doing…? More importantly to me, where are they?_' he thought walking around the house as he always did. He let out a sigh, and his ears dropped for a moment. He would get nowhere with just thinking about it, but still it was better than sleeping for the whole day.

"He's going to be late, Vieh," Mrs. Fonovi called out. Vieh's ears perked up. The woman, who is mother to his new master, descended the stairs, finding the silver furred hound resting on the sofa. Vieh's yellow eyes wandered to the door for a moment. "I wouldn't worry too much about it though," she said softly. Vieh sighed for a moment and curled up into a ball closing his eyes for a moment. "He misses her," she said sitting near the bundle of silver fur. Vieh flinched slightly and opened one eyes, yellow meeting with turquoise.

"Did… you meet her?" the hound asked softly. Mrs. Fonovi smiled sadly and looked into the distance of her home, watching a picture of her and her son. She nodded lightly and watched as Vieh sat up. He shook his fur for a moment, stretching for a short moment in time.

"I got to know her a bit better during a festival in a world called Traverse Town," she said smiling. "Amaterasu," she chuckled, "she had a hard time telling me her real name, she was," the woman paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling, possibly trying to remember that day, "she was very shy, that girl. You know, I think it was more because of the fact that she found out… No, rather I _told_ her that I was, and still am, Riku's mother." She said laughing slightly for a moment. Vieh looked up at the woman slightly and looked down at the silver furred paws that were from his given anatomy.

"I met her once," Vieh recounted that day, when the mistress of all evil met her fate, that's when he met the one known as the **_Atrum Procer_**. "She seemed really nice," he said softly, breathing in for a second. "Flowers, that's how _they_ described her, she smelled of flowers," he said now looking down at the light colored couch. "When Riku heard that I was going to see her, he was so happy," the hound said softly. "It was… it was a happiness that would make almost any living human cry, I suppose that's how one would put it as," the hound said smiling slightly, showing his fangs for a moment, his ears drooped down for a moment, "But…" Vieh ceased his speech, his ears perked up; the door from the front entrance was being unlocked.

Mrs. Fonovi looked up slightly and noticed the white collared shirt and dark navy pants. Turquoise eyes met another pair of the same color, they seemed more youthful. The boy smiled slightly and looked down for a moment at his black shoes. "Hey," he said softly closing the door in back of him. His mother stood up and greeted him sweetly.

"So, how was school?"

"Boring," Riku answered looking down at the floor for a moment. Vieh sighed slightly and he looked up, his master's eyes caught him resting on the couch. Out of instinct the silver furred beast felt his tail wag, Vieh felt uncomfortable showing that sort of happiness, and he turned his head to the side, so as not to face his master once more.

**Amaterasu and Sora **

"Get up." Amaterasu heard two voices telling her to rise up from the ground. '_It hurts,_' she thought straining to get up for several seconds. "Ammi, get up!" Sora's voice echoed out. "Come on, **_Atrum Procer_**," the elemental sighed for a second or two. The girl finally opened her eyes watching the elemental hover about her. '_My head,_' she thought sitting up slightly. The elemental known as 'Light' sighed in relief for a moment.

"I thought I killed you or something…" he said with some concern. "Get up, I know you can still fight…" Amaterasu growled for a moment watching as how the elemental stuck out like a sore thumb in the area composed of darkness. '_This is my element though, how can he…_' it didn't make sense to her, but somehow she knew that the light would always be one step ahead of the darkness, no matter how stronger the darkness became. She stood up, feeling some cuts and bruises become irritated as sweat rolled down for a moment.

The elemental known as 'Light' watched as she changed her appearance, and he chuckled, dodging an attack from a series of claws that tried to swipe his eyes out. Light jumped back, and Amaterasu wasn't about to let him escape so easily, her claws tapped the ground slightly, and the elemental felt a pair of 'tentacles' so to speak, pull him back down to the ground. '_Impressive, but it's not enough…_' he thought breaking free from the grip of the darkness. The Heartless looking human look back in confusion, the yellow eyes that stared back at the elemental held no malice towards him. '_She's preoccupied with something else, this won't do,_' Light thought rushing forward, and quickly thrusting her into the air. "WAKE UP!"

The girl looked up at the sky, it was as black as night, the same as the ground. '_I can't…_' she thought noticing that she was going to collide with the ground at a fast rate. She eyed the white figure as he jumped into the air. '_Wake up…_' she thought to herself, bring her arms up. Light dug his claws into her arm, and she let out hurt roar. '_If you don't pull yourself together, you won't get to see him… Do I make myself clear?_' the elemental asked her as she pushed him back. Amaterasu growled for a moment gripping tightly to his other arm, her claws seemed to break some surface of 'skin' from the elemental being known as Light.

"I'm trying…" she managed to whisper in a series of low growls. "It hurts…" Amaterasu said trying hard not to growl for a moment. Light pulled his arm away, and the two of them landed on the ground now. Amaterasu crouched on the ground for a moment, getting ready to run forward. Light beat her to it and he ran first, Amaterasu ducked a punch from him and she was able to roll to the side, giving him a flesh wound with her claw. Light winced slightly and looked back at her with his blue eyes, the yellow eyes from her Heartless form stared back with emptiness. '_Huh, she's just fighting with instinct now, but even I can't keep this up, I have my limits… she tiring me out,_' the elemental thought blocking a blow to the side, she snapped her jaws at him. She brought another fist into the opening, and the elemental blocked it with his palm.

Light winced feeling the shockwave from the impact hit several parts of both arms. '_Dark ain't doing so well either…_' he thought feeling his sister's energy grow slightly faint. Amaterasu pushed herself away from the elemental being and growled. Light noticed that the human was bleeding from some of the attacks from earlier. '_They've shown so much strength…_' he thought feeling something hit his back. Light groaned, and fell forward, the girl had tapped the dark solid ground once more. He could see her yellow eyes moving in at an alarming rate.

In the opposite end Sora wad panting for a moment, as Dark was toe to toe with him. '_He's pretty good, for being the bearer of the light,_' she thought smiling for a moment. Sora jumped forward letting an aura form around his curled fist. Dark jumped back and pushed an aura from her own hand. Sora's fist collided with the opposing aura, and a blue visible line was created from the blast. It hit both Sora and Dark in their shoulders, rendering them out of action for now. Sora's body went limp for a moment after using so much energy, his body went back to normal, there were no black spikes of hair, or yellow eyes, just a 16 year old boy with hair that defied gravity and blue eyes. Dark moved back for a moment, and clutched her shoulder with her other hand. '_Dang, he had that much energy left in him,_' she thought flopping down to the ground. At that moment the two lands of light and dark broke apart, bringing back the previous world that Amaterasu and Sora had created. Several black and blue winged butterflies fluttered around the area of the two creators.

The two elemental being quickly regained their strength and moved both of the two humans to a more comfortable area. Dark snapped her fingers and a bed seemed to sprout up from underneath Sora. Light snapped his fingers together and another bed seemed to form from the ground, grass twisting into metal, and the dirt molded, twisted, and finally it became as white as some plain bed sheets.

"Man, Sora packs a punch…" Dark said looking back at her shoulder, there was no crimson stain. Her dark clawed hands ran through her dark hair. "At least they know that the Keyblade isn't the only weapon at their disposal…" she said looking back at her brother.

"Yes, but still…" Light found no stains on his white figured body. "It would've been a bit better had they _woken up_ in the beginning." Dark rolled her eyes at the last word.

"You can't expect them too, they're young, not to mention human, it takes a while for them, remember?" Dark tried reminding her brother that those two are humans, not elementals. "It took us a _long_ time, and Father was very patient, you know that." Light sighed, knowing his sister had a point. Dark smiled for a moment and watched as Amaterasu sat up slightly, rubbing the side of her head.

"This thing smells like dirt…" the girl muttered looking at the divan, she didn't know it was grass and dirt disguised as a bed. Sora sat up shortly afterward and rubbed his shoulder for a moment. He looked back at Amaterasu and sighed in relief.

"I guess we owe you some information then…" Light said sitting on the ground. The two humans noticed that their world had come back into view. It was dusk now, and everything had a sort of soft hue as the sun was beginning to descend, and soon night would follow. Sora and Amaterasu looked up at Light and Dark noticing that they had no scratches on their bodies.

"First of all…" Dark laughed slightly. "Congratulations to the two of you." She said softly and sat down next to her brother. "Anyway… there's something I want to talk to the two of you about, it's that form the two of you used."

"You mean, Anti-Form?" Sora asked. Dark nodded in response.

"Yes, you see this form is created, or rather one can use this form when they've been turned into a Heartless for the first time. You Sora, you became one when you turned the Keyblade on yourself, the one that was created from the hearts of the Seven Maidens." Sora nodded as Dark continued on with her explanation. "You Amaterasu, you know that day I'm sure of it. It was the first experiment done to you, the day your Nobody was created."

"Wait, you have a Nobody?" Sora asked quickly looking back at the dark skinned girl. She looked down for a moment, and sighed.

"I _had_ one…" Amaterasu said looking up at the dusk sky. "That Nobody was destroyed a long time ago, to make room for the darkness they were going to give me, so I'd be just a body for a Heartless host, but you see I regained some of my heart back, so…"

"Yes, that's true, but that was twenty years…" Light said rubbing the back of his head. "I'm surprised you remember that."

"You're 37 years old?!" that was the first thing that escaped Sora's mouth, which surprised Amaterasu since he actually did the math in his head. Dark and Light both smacked the side of their heads. "You're a… Pedophile!"

"Shut your mouth, Sora!"

"You're an old hag!"

"Am NOT!" Sora was tackled on to the ground by Amaterasu.

"Wait, Ammi you never told them did you…?!" Dark asked trying to pull the Amaterasu off of Sora.

"I'm gonna rip your voice box!" Dark struggled to pull her off of him. "Just let it go!" Dark finally yelled getting Amaterasu away from him. "She can't age…" Dark said looking back at Sora, "it's due to being a host for the Heartless, so don't say anything. Anyway… That's the second thing we wanted to tell you, about when a Nobody dies…"

**The figure in Amber Pacific **

The figure sighed for a moment following the teens through the mall. So far the figure had witnessed the person by the name of 'Ven' eat about twelve hotdogs, the girl named 'Aqua' bought several things, mostly some shirts and a pair of sandals. The one referred to as 'Terra' bought a couple of journals and some pens. '_I'm still saying Terra's a girl's name…_' the figure thought following the five teens from a distance.

"Dark…" Terra tried shaking the girl from her daydream. "Hey earth to Dark, hellooooooo?" he realized that she finally snapped from her daydream and she apologized feeling rather embarrassed. "Come on, let's go, we're already behind now," he said pulling her along. '_Uh…_' she looked down at her hand noticing that he was pulling her along.

'_Something doesn't feel right,_' she thought trying to look back, something was staring to bug her. Light looked back at her and into the distance. '_You noticed it too?_' he asked within her mind. Dark nodded slightly and sighed for a moment as she was forced to walk back to the others. '_At least we're done with the shopping…_' she thought smiling slightly, though she smiled at the wrong time, seeing as how Terra looked back at her. '_NO!_' she thought feeling her face grow hot for a moment. '_HAHA! That's what you get Dark…_' she heard Light's voice teasing her. '_HEY, shut up!_' she said.

The figure sighed for a moment and soon the whole gang was out of the mall. '_I'm glad that's over with…_' the person thought for a moment. The figure pulled down their hood down and sighed for several seconds, not losing sight of the two individuals mentioned on their list. '_Time to cut this short…_' the figure thought watching as the two figure known as Light and Dark lagged behind. "We know you're there…" the two of them said looking back at the figure that had their hood down. The figure smirked and within their grasp the figure held a pair of circular weapons called chakrams. Light and Dark looked at one another, noticing that the chakrams had somewhat familiar markings. "We've been looking for you two for a long time…" the figure mouthed out two names.

"That's not us," the other two said looking at the playing cards for a moment. "So you've wasted your time," Light said making a move for the back pocket of his jeans. He felt something razor-sharp slit his wrist for a moment, a razor sharp chakram bathed in metallic silver and red landed right next to him. "You pull out that weapon of yours, and you know…" the figure said as they chuckled for a moment.

"We can't remember…?" Dark looked back at Light as he noticed a little line of blood fall from his wrist. Light growled for a moment and looked back, time seemed to stand still. "What did you…?" the girl looked around for a moment and noticed that everything was stand still.

"For no interferences, you understand…" the figure said. Both of the teens noticed that she was about slightly shorter than the two of them, which made her roughly about 5 feet and 4 inches. The figure had black hair that seemed to reach down to the waist, with slightly hazel eyes. Dark noticed that the female figure had a strange crest on her upper right cheek.

"What's your name?" Dark asked keeping a watchful eye on the figure.

"Xejicka…" the figure said chuckling for a moment. "I know yours, dear…"

Chakram flew around the area nicking Dark and Light with no mercy. The two teens struggled for a moment trying to fend off from the attack of the razor sharp weapons. '_STOP!_' Dark thought holding out her hands, closing her eyes tightly. The chakram around her paused for a couple of seconds, and Light took the chance to run forward. Out of the ground something formed from the asphalt, a hug pillar of fire. Light was thrown back by the magnitude of the heat, he landed on the ground hurting his shoulder in the process, and he groaned in pain. "I'm no pushover…" Xejicka said rushing forward, throwing one chakram in Dark's direction. The girl panicked for a moment, '_this woman knows our names… What does she…?_' Dark's eyes widened for a moment, the chakram stopped right in front of her face. Light had his hand stretched out towards his partner, he placed a 'Stop' spell on the razor-sharp circular weapon. The girl jumped back and disappeared from the figure's view.

Xejicka looked up and grinned, '_so predictable…_' she thought bring more and more pillars of fire into existence. They rammed into the girl and Light ran forward to try and aid his fallen friend. As he stepped forward trying to catch her as she starting to fall straight to the ground he noticed a slightly change in pressure around Dark's body. '_Sorry kid…_' Xejicka thought, commanding her wayward chakram to move straight into Light's path. Dark opened her eyes slightly staring at the ground that stared to come closer and closer towards her. '_Reflect,_' she thought hearing something else connect with the ground. Light bent backwards narrowly avoiding the chakram from ripping his nose off. Dark's shield broke slowly, and when she looked at her body she noticed she didn't have any burn marks. '_It must of the shockwave more than anything… Or maybe it was that form,_' Dark looked back slightly noticing that Light was having some hard time.

"Heh," Xejicka chuckled for a moment watching as Dark was pulling something from the back of her pocket. "You do that now, Messenger… And they'll be all over you!" Xejicka said pulling back her wrist, and both chakrams reappeared right beside her. "You wouldn't want that would you?" she asked sneering at her. Dark growled for a moment and withdrew her hands from her back pocket. Xejicka failed to notice that her nails were growing slightly.

"What do you want?" Dark asked circling Xejicka slightly, as she mimicked her movements.

"Just the two of you," she said simply throwing a chakram in her direction. She tried to block it, but Xejicka made the chakram ignite with fire. Light outstretched his arm casting a Blizzard spell on the fiery weapon. The figure growled for a moment and looked back down at Light for a second or two. "You guys are very special I hope you know that…" the woman, by the name of Xejicka, said looking down at the card she had hidden in her sleeve in her hand. Again she took her weapons back into position with the flick of a wrist. "We'll keep looking for you, no matter where you go, we'll be able to find you because of the weapons you each hold, so it's better you end your somewhat eternal suffering while you can."

"There's no way, we're going with you!" the two of the yelled running forward. Xejicka felt one powerful blow hit her on the back, and one hit her on the chest. Dark and Light punched the young woman with enough force to knock out several men. Xejicka winced for a moment and from her grip one card fell to the floor, encasing the whole field in a pure white light. Dark and Light covered their eyes quickly and noticed that the woman and her circular weapons had disappeared once the two were distracted, things seemed to go back to normal now. Light noticed something by his foot and bent down to pick it up, it looked like a Joker card of some sort. Dark noticed that on the other side something was written on it.

_I know you guys aren't the type to take hints from strangers, let alone someone you just fought with right now. Anyway let me forewarn you two, when you guys get ready to leave here, with all that precious info, you may not want to go would you? Remember it all began with **birth by sleep**, don't forget about the fallen ones… You may no longer be **you** after this._

Dark blinked a bit and looked back at Light. "How did she know?" Light asked looking back up at the sky, night had taken its position in the sky now. "I don't know…" Dark said holding the side of her head, it was still bleeding. Light sighed for a moment and placed both of his hands on the side of her head, concentrating some energy to flow from his fingertips. Within seconds a pure white light encased his hands and soon her wound was closed.

"She's different…" Light said looking back at the card. "She could've killed us right from the start, and you know that," he said looking back at Dark. "Why didn't she?"

"She doesn't want her fun to end…" Dark said taking some time to thank Light for treating her wound. "We should get going now though, old man Brooks it going to wonder where we went."

"I doubt it… I mean he knows our names so…"

"So then, you think he knows about the day to day Heartless attacks?" Dark asked, watching Light nod in response. "You'd think he'd go easier on us then…" she said stretching for a moment. "This bites… I just want… to go home…" she said softly feeling a bit more down in the dumps as Light gave her a small hug. "I want to see them again… Is that so much to ask for?"

"Right now, I think so…" Light said pulling his friend along back to the place they had to call 'home'. "You know…"

Dark sighed for a moment as the two of them walked down the street. "Don't say it, we both know this isn't the last of them…" Light grinned for a moment knowing Dark had just finished his sentence.

"I'm starting to think we're getting _too good_ at synching together…" Light said looking back at his good friend. It was strange, given some time ago, to say about probably several months into the past these two never would've worked together like that, but now with time beginning to set something huge into motion they needed one another for survival.

**Castle Oblivion **

A figure dressed in black was lying on a light colored couch surrounded with several tables that were lined up with books of all sorts. The figure looked up slightly noticing one of its members returned and casually walked in as if they owned the place.

"Those two kids are pretty intriguing," a male voice said softly, catching the returning figure off guard. "But why were you treating them so courteously, Xejicka?" Xejicka noticed that the figure was reading _Marquis de Sade_. "**_I _**would've kicked those two around some more."

"Distasteful cruelty isn't my style, Nusvext." Xejicka answered looking at the male figure that had blonde hair and blue eyes.

Nusvext closed his book slightly and placed his whole attention on the female looking figure before him. "So then… I take it you're just interested in **_them_**. Mainly on what makes them tick right? Especially the girl?"

"You know the heart is a mysterious thing, Xejicka…" another voice came into the clearing. Nusvext and Xejicka looked back noticing a hooded figure come into view. The hooded figure took off their hood; the scent of flowers seemed to fill the room. "But unlocking its secrets was why Organization XIII was previously created. This is why we exist anyway," the figure had light blue hair down to the shoulder and matching blue eyes. "If I remember correctly so long as I'm in charge of this area, we're following through with **_his_** plan, understood?"

Nusvext sighed for a moment looking slightly in the figures direction. Their _leader_ was Xauqa, number 11 in the organization. Xejicka, she's number 8 in the organization. Nusvext, he's number 12 in the organization. Several others were within Castle Oblivion, but they were far too busy keeping other things in order to waste time like this.

"Hey, leader, so how was **_it_**?" Nusvext asked with a slightly smile.

"No problem," Xauqa answered pushing back some strands of hair away from her face. Xejicka eyed number 11 slightly. '_I'm making sure that's all you're suppose to do,_' Xejicka thought crossing her arms over her chest. "Everything is under control." She said softly looking at Xejicka with a vague smile.

"When are they going to **_remember_**? About Ames…" Nusvext asked looking at the leader.

**A/N: You know what to do_ one_ review please! **

_Meus eyes volo video vidi visum a ray of lux lucis_, this is Latin for the sentence 'my eyes want to see a ray of light'.


	5. Chapter V

**A/N**: Thank you once again readers and reviewers!

**Xejicka:** I'm glad you liked the chapter, and it's all right about the late review.

**Sonic13**: You hit all of those ideas right on the money! I'm pretty glad you know who they are now, and well just don't tell anyone! But about your idea of the new beings, you'll just have to read this chapter to find out, won't that be fun?

Now with that, on with the story!

**Chapter Five: The poena inside adveho incedo vos**

"Damn it!" Light was thrown into the air by an unseen force. The pressure around him was beginning to change as the force took hold of its physical appearance. The shockwave of the approaching figure caused the sides of buildings to cave in slightly. As the figure walked forward footprints came into view. "Show yourself!" Light cried out catching himself in midair for several seconds. He landed on the ground and ran forward to the presence that seemed to be approaching in the northern direction. He had nothing to fight with except his bare hands.

Dark watched from the rooftop of a nearby building, scanning the area for anymore signs of people in black hooded coats, but she found nothing of the sort. She peered down and noticed that Light was on the ground yelling at something unseen so far. Dark's eyes looked forward and noticed a strange thing, a veil was slightly transparent, but soon a silver figure appeared quickly, swiping its clawed hand at Light. '_It's silver!_' Dark thought quickly jumping down from the building. '_So then, this is what that guy was talking about,_' Light thought jumping back from time to time to avoid the crushing feet of the enemy called 'Twilight Thorn'.

_Reperio the infirmitas illae vulgus hostilis_

"But _where_ is the weakness?!" Light asked shouting at the sky overhead. "That's not helping!" he said failing to notice the giant clawed hand coming down. Dark flinched slightly and made a mad dash forward to try and save him from being crushed like a pancake.

"Move!" she cried out knowing she wouldn't be able to reach him in time. Light looked up quickly noticing the shadow that engulfed him. He started to move, but soon he noticed something came crashing down on him with almost bone-crushing force.

"Aaarrrrggghhh!" he cried out trying to get away from the powerful grip the giant Nobody had on his body. It was no use for right now, each time he moved more weight was added to the attack. '_I can't hold on…_' he thought noticing his vision was starting to fade in and out now. Dark panicked, '_no, he can't die! We made a promise…_' she thought growling in as she watched the Nobody hold her friend down like that. Something in the back of her mind told her to look for a weakness as well. '_But where?_' she thought feeling her legs move her body forward. She started in a slow sprint, and upon hearing Light cry out in pain once more she moved as fast as she could. '_Hold on,_' she thought noticing the pained look on her good friend's face.

A burst of wind pushed her backwards as the fist from the giant Nobody caught her off guard. "Ugh…" she brought hers arms up to cover her head slightly and looked up at the Nobody of giant proportions. "Let him go!" she shouted at Twilight Thorn, and the Nobody seemed to take in some pleasure knowing that the person in its grasp meant something to the young female teen. It tried to swat the girl away, but she evaded the attack to a certain degree, with almost fast reflexes, but still the force of the attack hit her, sending her several feet away from her friend.

In all the commotion Light was able to free himself, noticing that the Nobody had let its grip decrease in a certain amount of time. He picked himself up hastily, before getting knocked into the air by another devastating attack, it missed him by several centimeters. The Nobody brought down both of its fist, creating a shockwave on the ground, and in the wake of the attack several Dusks came out, moving towards the two figures quickly, trying to be swift as possible. '_Regular attacks won't work with them…_' the two figures thought moving back slightly.

"We have to…" Dark said softly moving for the back pocket of her green cargo pants. Light placed his hand on her arm, quickly restraining her from moving her hand any further. "But, we're going to be out numbered…" she said with some concern, looking at the Dusks as they formed a circle around them. Light shook his head and looked around for a moment trying to think of a plan.

"We have to go for the main source," he said pointing to Twilight Thorn. "These guys will just slow us down, you know that." Light said, his companion noticed that he eyes were starting to change color slightly, and his body was turning as black as night. He jumped into the area, avoiding the jagged beams of darkness and light the higher ranking Nobody produced. Dark looked around and prayed for a moment to herself, quietly. '_I'll find a way to go home with him…_' she thought once her prayer had been said, '_just wait for us…_' she thought running forward following Light in suite.

Twilight Thorn made a strange noise, as if it was going to roar. The two adolescent Heartless like figures hovered in the air for a moment, and Light took the led attacking the Nobody head on. Dark went back to the ground, circling the Nobody for any signs of weakness. '_Think, think…_' she looked around noticing the silver flesh of the Nobody, it seemed to have no weakness at all, even with her careful examination. '_No wounds, right?_' she thought moving back in a hastily fashion as the smaller Nobodies attacked with their strange movements. Something in her mind said that she was dead wrong, and so she attacked several of the silver creatures that held strange markings, and watched as they fell to ground and started falling apart, back into nothingness.

Light ran up the arm of Twilight Thorn, trying very hard not to get swept back by the brute force of the attacks, even if they didn't hit the wind from the force of the brutal assault would come back and get him with just enough force. Twilight Thorn tried desperately to get the little black coated Heartless off of its being, knowing that it did pose a threat. Dark was to preoccupied with finding the weak point of the Nobody, seeing as how she now felt that there was some sort of weak spot on Twilight Thorn. She noticed that there were more Dusks gathered to one side, and from logic she assumed that the source was around that area somewhere.

Silver zipper mouthed bodies jumped into the air trying to protect the larger body of the one in charge, but her determination would not falter, and neither would her companion's. '_Don't waste time with the smaller Nobodies, I've told you before, just concentrate on finding the vital area!_' Light voice echoed loudly in her mind, scolding her slightly.

'_That's what I'm trying to do, but it makes it a bit harder!_' she answered back angrily stabbing her clawed hand into the chest of a Dusk, it disappeared back to the nothingness soon after. More and more were starting to form around her in a circle, and soon she noticed the vital spot from the tall Nobody known as Twilight Thorn, behind the calf a faint purple slash was no visible to her. More Dusks jumped her, overpowering her soon after. They made hissing noises, and soon before she knew it pain jolted from her back. Light looked back hearing her cry out in pain, and cursed at himself for leaving her alone like that. He failed to notice the silver hand above him.

**Sora and Amaterasu**

"So then, you're saying that when a Nobody is killed it leaves behind something else?" Sora asked looking at Light and Dark. The two elemental figures nodded and looked back at one another with concern.

"Even though Nobodies aren't suppose to exist," the dark elemental began to speak, her yellow eyes looking up at the afternoon sky over their heads, "they are filled with life so to speak," Dark said softly looking back at the blue eyed teen and the dark brown eyed female. "And the three things that consist of life are…?" she wanted to see if the two were paying attention.

"A heart…" Amaterasu said softly counting off with her finger.

"The body…" Sora responded, and Amaterasu had two fingers up now.

"And the soul," the two teens said in unison. "The three things that make up life," Amaterasu said counting them off again with her fingers.

"Yep," the white elemental being said nodding slightly. "Heartless and Nobodies have one goal, which is the heart." Light said his white hands produced a small projectile of a heart. "Heartless seek the greatest heart of all, Kingdom Hearts." His blue eyes stared back at the two teens. "Nobodies seek Kingdom Hearts to feel complete again."

"One heart that fulfills all hearts," the dark elemental began to speak, taking her brother's place. "And all hearts lead to the same heart. Kingdom Hearts, which is the place where the mightiest heart lives, and where the darkness is endlessly deep…"

"When Xehanort's Heartless opened Kingdom Hearts, Sora you saw that darkness was coming out from it, right?" Light asked, and noticed the nod. "Though, because of your strong will to believe, you turned that darkness into light." The white elemental figure said watching the fabricated heart hover about in his palm. "Everything is made up of light and darkness, including Kingdom Hearts; it's either light or darkness depending on the wielder."

"It has no free will of its own," Dark said feeling some remorse for the heart of all hearts. "Anyway, the soul," the yellow eyes stared back at the two teens, "Since a Nobody has a _body _that means it has a soul as well, but no heart. Meaning that it only has two elements to the essence of life, it's not complete."

"But since the _others_ have a heart and soul, with a body, and since a Nobody is half, the _other_ and the Nobody have half of what makes them complete." Light said, hoping that it would make sense to the two teens.

"Though, I think…" Amaterasu bit her thumb for a moment trying to piece together information, it seemed like a chaotic jigsaw puzzle, pieces that you thought went there, didn't go there but somewhere else, and to make matters worse she knew for a fact that pieces were missing from her mental puzzle. "The soul though, it doesn't just die…" she said looking back at the blue eyed male figure, and the yellow eyed female figure.

"Right, so the soul from the Nobody has to go somewhere." Light and Dark said together. "If the will of the Nobody is strong it can create a separate entity," the dark elemental figure. "It's hard to explain because people confuse the heart and soul as being one."

"The term soul…" Sora put his thoughts into the conversation. "I remember a book described it as it containing the essence of life." The spiky hared teen said looking back at Amaterasu and others.

"Essence, the attributes that make an object what it is…" Amaterasu said sighing for a moment. "This… is giving me a headache," she said feeling her head spin for a moment.

The light brown skinned teen fell back on the cool grass, staring up at the sky of the fabricated world around them So many thoughts were going around, not even her mind could grasp the certain knowledge that the two elementals knew, for they were as old as time itself, making them one step behind from the great one himself, God. Only that great deity knew the answers to which Sora and Amaterasu so desperately wanted to know.

Sora yawned for a moment and looked back at Ammi, since she was closing her eyes. "Hey don't sleep!" he said poking her stomach slightly. "Come on, we're learning here!"

"But I don't get what the two of you are trying to say," Amaterasu said the honest truth as she sat up once more, groaning for a moment in exhaustion. "The heart, soul and body are three different things. The heart contains emotions, and it's made up of light and darkness. The body is the physical appearance of a human, and the soul… is the core?"

"If it weren't for the ideals of so many humans…" Light said shaking his head. "Those philosophers and idealist created their own meanings for the soul…"

"Because we still don't know what a _soul_ is." Sora said feeling a bit fed up with all of this. "Just tell us what we want to know, please you two."

"…there are three enemies," Dark said changing into her orb like form. "Heartless, Nobodies, and…"

**Destiny Islands**

"…" a small whimpering sound was coming from the gray bed sheets. Turquoise eyes looked up from the mess on the floor, the sheets were shaking. The figure ceased it's whimpering and walked over to the edge of the bed, a young hound's face was visible now from the gray bed sheets, and it seemed to calm down a bit when Riku had entered the room. "You're here," the animal said happily for a moment.

"Making a mess are we?" Riku said looking down at the plastic water bottles on the floor, several pencils were broken in half, and newspaper shreds were in one corner of the wooden floored room. "I thought I told you to stay calm…"

"How can you stay so calm with a thunderstorm?" the silver hound asked burrowing itself deeper in the gray bed sheets. To Vieh, the silver hound, the sheets had a sweet scent, which came from the fabric softener Mrs. Fonovi had used when doing the laundry.

Riku chuckled at the behavior of the once proud beast. "A couple of months ago you took Maleficent dead on, and fought with Sora. Yet here you are afraid of thunder, hiding like a scared kitten," he said noticing the slight bare fangs from the small silver coated hound.

"I haven't acquainted myself with the weather…" Vieh said softly looking away from his master. "Anyway, I'm sorry for the condition you found your room in, but I can't help you clean it up, even if I did cause it, I don't have thumbs." He said standing up on his hind legs.

"…" Riku sighed and started by cleaning up the room. He grabbed several chewed up plastic bottles and dumped them inside the green wastepaper basket by the edge of the night stand. Vieh watched with attentive yellow eyes, noticing that the black carpet was becoming visible now as all the debris was being cleaned off of the dark floor covering. "Just don't do this again, all right?" that was all he asked of his furry companion. Vieh nodded slightly and shook once more hearing the 'sound of the gods' as the beast called it.

"When the weather gets like this in most stories, or in videogames," the small silver beast began, "something always happens…" Vieh said looking outside the window of the wooden floored room. "The calm before the storm…" he said, his tail went to the side for a moment in a _swishing_. "I'm worried for the two of them," he said referring to the two companions left behind. The beast looked back noticing what his master was wearing; he wore black sweat pants and a gray under shirt.

"Same here," Riku said feeling something make his heart sink a bit. "Though, I'm sure they're doing fine," he tried to uplift the mood a bit. Something in the distance caught his attention as a light from the blue mp3 device turned on. '_That's the alarm…_' he thought for a moment. "It's already 5 o'clock…" he said to himself and looked back at Vieh.

"I doubt that _she's_ going to look for them in this weather." Vieh said making himself rather cozy in the gray bed fabric.

"You'd be surprised…" Riku said. "Nothing's ever stopped Kairi before."

"I see…" the beast said for a moment yawning. "The heart is a very strange thing," the silver furred hound said leaving one eye open.

In the distance a yellow umbrella was laying against inside wall of the roofed bus stop. Kairi sighed watching the light in the distance that was created from the lightning. Not even the rain could stop her, she would watch out for them no matter what, because she cared for the two of them. '_I can't get caught in the middle of the storm though,_' the crimson hared teen thought picking up her yellow umbrella from the yellow stripped, roofed, bus stop. She walked down the sidewalk in casual wear that consisted of blue jeans and a black hooded sweater with pink stitching and pink tennis shoes. Kairi sighed for a moment and trudged along the concrete pathway thinking about the good days when they were all on the island together.

"We were all so happy…" Kairi said softly against the sound of the rain. The smell of the earth filled her nose, bringing back a calm feeling, and a sense of nostalgia. She could vividly remember the day when it rained in Radiant Garden.

"_Come on!" a young girl around the age of twelve said, jumping up and down trying to catch the attention of the others. A young girl with red wine colored hair followed after the older children and smiled. The rain started to fall lightly and she looked up with at the gray sky. Curious blue eyes watched the sky as it let the 'teardrops' touch everything on the ground._

"_Kairi, you're going to catch a cold…" someone said in a sweet voice, taking the young girl by the hand. She looked at the gentle hand, it was adorned with several metallic bracelets. The gentle hand had emerald eyes, and brown hair with a pink bow tied to the back. Kairi smiled feeling safe with her, and looked in the back, a young teenager with blonde followed behind with another teenage boy with black hair, the two of them had almost the same style of hair._

"_Aerith…" the twelve year old girl said looking back at the one who held Kairi's hand. Aerith looked at the speaker and smiled slightly._

"_I know…" the girl said softly. Kairi noticed that she smelled like flowers, and she found it strange, she often called her 'flower' rather than Aerith because of her smell._

"_It's been a while since it rained," another teen said standing next to the twelve year old girl. He was a bit older than all the other children, and he had brown hair._

"_Squall has a point," someone said smiling near Aerith. Kairi looked back and noticed the girl with brown highlights. _

"_Rinoa…" Squall groaned, he didn't like being called that name. Kairi knew, because she called him 'Leon', but she noticed that he didn't get so mad when Rinoa called him 'Squall'._

"_Hey where's Ames?" someone asked from behind. Another teenage boy, with noticeable red hair, walked alongside the two others teens that were in back of Aerith and Kairi. He was talking about getting something called 'tattoos' near his cheekbones. Kairi looked up at Aerith, with questioning eyes, Aerith was able to read her thoughts from the look in her eyes._

"_She'll come soon," Aerith said patting her head softly, she liked her warmth, again it made her feel safe._

"_Here I am!" said running from behind. Kairi remembered the strange colored hair she had, but other than that, she knew that 'Ames' was a good friend. _

Kairi broke out of her daze, and soon reached the steps of her home, and she smiled. Then she looked in back of her, and watched as sea turned a bit chaotic; it was because of the rain. She had a clear view of the effects and she sat on the porch, watching the scene unfold from the rain.

"I hope it clears up soon," she said softly closing her eyes for a moment. "Naminé…"

"Yeah?" a gentle voice called out from her mind.

"I'm worried…" Kairi said softly, as the rain _pitter-pattered_ against the exposed are of the porch, and the ground.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine," Naminé sounded so sure about it.

"You aren't worried about Roxas?"

"A little…" Naminé said softly, matching the same tone of Kairi's voice. "But, Amaterasu's with the two of them," she said softly, in a chuckle, "I wouldn't worry."

"I…" Kairi bit the bottom of her lip. "I really wish I got to say thank you to her," she said looking down at the pink tennis shoes on her feet.

"Why?" the Nobody asked. In Kairi's mind she could picture the blonde Nobody tilt her head.

"She made Riku very happy, besides she helped us out, remember?" She responded feeling a smile on her face.

**In Castle Oblivion several minutes ago**

Below in the basement of the castle one lone lightbulb flooded the seemingly empty area of one room. In the distance a wooden table was covered with two pairs of hands seemingly taking some sort of food from the bowl located in the middle of the table. A figure seemed to move through the shadows to the two pairs of hands. The two that were maneuvering their hands stopped and looked up noticing another fellow member in their presence. The approaching figure lowered their hood and sat down away from the other two members, soon the room was visible, taking away the dark dreary setting.

"You felt a presence in that place?" someone asked.

"Are you sure its wasn't those Heartless?" another figure asked.

"Well then, come on tell us, Xiaga."

"Wait before you do, how do you like my homemade pickles?"

"I don't care about your pickles!" a senior voice said.

"Anyway…" Xiaga took a bite out of the pickle. "There was a scent from those wretched Nobodies…" Xiaga took another bite out of the pickle. "Hey Ruxsud you out did yourself this time."

"…" the senior's eyes twitched. "Stop focusing on the food!" he said banging his palm on the table. The figure known as Ruxsud smiled slightly, and focused his mind on one of those Sudoku puzzles.

"I can't help it if Ruxsud cooks well, Shimasax," Xiaga said smiling slightly for a moment at the rest of the uneaten pickles, he did enjoy number 5's cooking.

"Just focus, number 6," Shimasax said looking at Xiaga's black messy hair for a moment.

"It seems that Xauqa and others are on the move now." Ruxsud said looking up from his puzzle.

"And that other scent belonged to…"

"I can't _**believe**_ those guys are off sneaking around! So much for being called an organization!" Shimasax said in outrage. "AND TALK ABOUT NO RESPECT!"

"Um… May I continue, please?" but Xiaga's voice was drowned out.

"NOT A SINGLE 'HOW-DO-YOU-DO' FROM THOSE BUMS!" Shimasax continued. Xiaga looked to the side and noticed that their goal of the month was to give proper greetings. "Which is why for this month we're going to-"

"Hurry up and get it over with!" Xiaga said giving Shimasax a deadly look, Xiaga didn't like being interrupted so much, especially if it was because of Shimasax felt disrespected and he felt the _**need**_ to let it all out. "Now then…" number 6 said as the room grew dead silent. "As _**I**_ was saying The other scent belonged to Te-"

"HIM?!" Shimasax said almost spilling the small liquid container in his hand. "But… But he left! We all saw him leave that day!"

"_**I'll**_ look into it," Xiaga said trying to get the _Chilly Academic _to calm down. "Just keep in mind that his scent is _**extremely **_similar to the Superior's."

"Maybe… they're using the same cologne?" Xiaga stumbled forward at Shimasax's suggestion.

**In Amber Pacific**

A young teen walked down the street slightly, with strange brown hair. He wore a black coat, but he preferred to have his hood down, rather than up. His black modified boots _thumped_ against the concrete sidewalk of the seemingly calm town. '_I know now, why she seems so familiar, and him too…_' the teen thought happily for a moment. It brought joy to his heart, but he ceased the emotion quickly just as soon as it came. '_I can't get to worked up with it though,_' the teen thought sitting down on a black metallic chair, he gazed at the people that walked past the patio of the café shop.

The fragrance of darkness has been infused into your bones… 

The teen tugged at the collar of his hood and took in a small whiff, but he couldn't find anything different with the scent, it smelled like it had just been washed today. "Heh… ha, ha. Infused into my bones, huh?" he let go of piece of fabric. "I guess then that there is no turning back."

My kind friend… 

"Ames… you really think I can go back to the light?" the figure said looking up at the sky. Time had stopped within the world, this was _**her**_ work. "But what… what if when I finally wake up all that will be there is darkness?"

_Don't let go of yourself!_ The teen looked in front of him and noticed a young teenage girl with silver hair and light brown skin. _Forget about that stinky old fragrance! Believe in yourself, and don't forget to brush your teeth! And then after that take a long soak in that tub of yours, till you feel all squeaky clean again!_ The teen blushed slightly and looked away from the girl with the silver hair. Her eyes were the same shade of blue as his, yet her physical appearance was slightly transparent.

_Oh you're worried about this, don't sweat about it you dummy. I'm only using a bit of my power to talk to you, so I'm sorry if I came out looking fuzzy. Does it make me look fat?_ She asked spinning around. The teen couldn't help but chuckle at the young female teen's question. She walked over to the teen and sat next to him in the opposite side of the table.

"I…" the teen looked away from her for a moment.

"Listen, fight that darkness inside yourself, I know you can do!" she said pleading with him. "Don't beat yourself to death with that, you and I both know that in the darkest darkness there's a little bit of light! We've both seen it together, remember?" Ames said blowing silver strands away from her face. The young teen looked down, and Ames gave a sad look. "Hey come on don't-"

"Hey give me some credit, Ames, I'll be all right." The teen said looking up at her gentle blue eyes.

"Oh yeah. Ha, ha, ha…" Ames said giving him a soft smile. He had missed seeing her like that, just being cheerful. "Listen," she said outstretching her hand. "I'm going to find a way to reach you." She said watching the teen outstretch his gloved hand towards hers.

He gasped slightly noticing that his hand passed through hers. "You're still an illusion, my hand just passed right through," he said looking at his gloved palm.

"Hey but don't feel down, see in our hearts, we shook on it, so we're connected now, you and I. I'm always going to be by your side, all right?"

"Thanks, Ames…" he said rubbing his eyes slightly with his other hand. Ames smiled slightly and withdrew her hand to her lap.

"Don't cry… Rax. Anyway I can't stay to long, I'm doing this in secret, I'll try and contact you later again." She said, and with that time went forward once more, and she was gone from sight. Probably to a safer place than here.

His blue eyes looked up for a moment from the white table, and he noticed another rather familiar. He tried to pretend that he didn't exist, but still the noticeable figure with green eyes looked at him.

"It's been a while…" the green eyed figure said looking at the teen with the strange brown hair. "You remember me?" the male figure asked the young teen.

"Who are you?" the teen asked. He noticed that the two of them were wearing the same style of black coats. '_I can't go back with them…_' he thought thinking back to the figures he now knew. '_I have to make sure that they're safe…_'

"Are you saying that because you really don't remember, or you're trying to forget?" the blonde hared figure asked the brown hared teen.

"You take your picking…" the teen said in a rather cold tone. '_I don't have time for this…_' he thought cursing himself mentally for this. People passed by, glancing at the two figures dressed in black, but other than that they went by daily routine. The citizens of Amber Pacific had no idea what was happening around their area.

"Number 4 ring a bell?" the blonde long hared male asked. The teen shook his head. "The _Chilly Academic_?" he asked again, referring to another title given to him. Again the teen shook his head. "Shimasax?"

"…" the teen felt his eyes widened slightly, but played it cool. "Ah… nope." He said flatly.

"…"

"You're wasting my time, weirdo…"

"_She's_ been worried about you…" the older man by the name of Shimasax said, noticing the teen excused himself from the area, and with that he started walking away.

"Like I said…" he looked at the green eyed man. "You're wasting my time…" with that the brown hared teen walked away, raising his hood now, he seemed fed up with the 'Chilly Academic'.

**In Castle Oblivion**

Xejicka stared up at the white ceiling of the computer room counting off the pillars around her out of boredom. '_Nine… twelve… thirteen…_' she sighed for a moment. "Thirteen, everything's thirteen…" Xejicka scratched the back of her head for a moment and looked in back of her. Nusvext was humming something happily, which for Number 8 could only mean that something bad was going to take place soon. The blonde hared figure looked back at Xejicka for a moment.

"It looks like their memories will soon take root," the blue eyed blonde said looking back at slightly hazel eyed teen.

"Just as we planned," Xejicka said leaning against the wall of the marble floored room. Books were propped up against the tables around her, and she thought about the number thirteen again, though something broke her thoughts. "Hey is Xauqa looking after _**it**_?"

"Uh-huh," the other one said getting up from the computer chair. He stretched for a moment and smiled. "Well, well. Look's like it's my turn to go and play now." he said looking back at Xejicka. He caught the item that was tossed his way. "Oh yeah…" he flipped the Joker card for a moment, "I'm supposed to give these two little buggers this…"

"…" Xejicka sighed for a moment and pushed back some of the strands of black hair way from her face. She watched as Nusvext started to walk away. "Hey, listen, don't break them, Nusvext."

"Silly Xejicka…" Nusvext said smiling. "I don't break toys, I just go and play with them. I'm not stupid."

Xejicka was lying on the couch now staring up at the ceiling for a moment. "Then I suppose you don't mind the warning. Get this memorized, they are the _**key**_." Nusvext threw her a slight glare. "Even when we finish our little 'true objective' we need these two if we're going to take this place back."

"I didn't know you were in on it too…" Nusvext said with some slight interest. "Well then keep this under your hood until we get our prefect timing."

Xejicka watched as Nusvext disappeared from sight and she sat up walking over to the computer screen. She looked at the two figures, and replayed the last battle they had against Twilight Thorn, she chuckled for a moment. "Of course… But you know," she smirked watching the two teens take down Twilight Thorn, "_**you**_ should've followed your own instructions, Nus…" she said, turning off the screen.

**With Dark and Light**

"This part of Amber Pacific… it's different…" Light said softly. The pressure in the area seemed slightly heavier then when they were within the plaza. "Hey…" he looked back at his partner. "Do you remember how we got here?"

"…" Dark was thinking about if for a moment. "You know I think with each day," she said softly, looking down at the streets below, "we forget…" she said rubbing her left wrist for a second. "I sort of understand what Xejicka was trying to tell us by that…" the two of them were sitting atop a building overlooking this part of the city. "I've been writing the events down in one of the journals that Terra bought, they won't catch him."

"But he could read-!"

"Messy handwriting!" his female companion said waving her left hand in his face. Light laughed for a moment and looked out into the ruined part of the city. Several minutes ago something known as a Nobody, called Twilight Thorn, which was of giant proportions, fought with the two individuals. Luckily the two were able to take care of the abomination before things escalated even further. Dark sighed for a moment and patted Light on the head for a moment. "Anyway… I remember that Mr. Brooks found us on the outskirts," she said sighing for a moment. "The good thing is that Terra said he won't read what I wrote in there anyway."

"You trust him that much?" Light asked, rocking back at forth for a couple of seconds, and Dark nodded in response.

"Something in my heart," she paused for a brief moment. "I feel like I've met him somewhere though, I just can't remember why I _can_ trust him, or from where I even know him from." She said softly, looking down at the ground below them.

"You may no longer be _**you**_," Light said pulling out the Joker card, he flipped the card to the other side re-reading the neat handwriting. "I have a feeling that this place is stealing our memories." The teen said feeling concerned at this point now. "There's someone important to me," Light said softly placing the card back into the rear pocket of his pants. "Her name it's to precious for me to forget," he said placing his hand on his heart for a moment. "I do really miss…"

"Ames…?" Dark said softly, touching her lips slightly with her index finger. '_No, that's not her… It doesn't sound right,_' she thought to herself.

"No…" Light said noticing the look of relief plastered on the face of his good friend. "Is that someone _you_ know?"

"I think so…" Dark answered, although she herself didn't sound to sure about it. "Her name just popped up," she said shrugging. "Then again, you said this place messes with our memories."

"Yeah, but hey come on let's go home," Light said carefully balancing himself on the edge of the building. Dark stood up and dusted herself off for a moment. She looked at her hands for a second, noticing that she was holding a keychain. '_The Keyblade,_' she thought placing it over her heart for a moment.

'_Don't ever lose sight of what's important to you, okay?'_ a voice filled her head, and it made her smile warmly. '_I haven't heard that voice in so long,_' she thought closing her eyes for a moment. Dark withdrew the keychain back to the side pocket of her green cargo pants. "What's wrong?" her friend asked.

Dark shook her head, "I heard a voice, it was from a good friend," she said in a soft tone. The voice triggered the image of a kind face, still she wasn't able to piece in the pieces to the kind voice just yet. '_The feeling I had when we entered this place, I know we would find something…_' Light told his friend within the frame of the mind, she nodded for a moment and sat back down, Light followed in suite and sighed.

"Still I can feel it here," Light said pointing down to his heart, "in my heart, we have to keep moving, no matter what."

"…" Dark looked down for a moment and felt her heart sink for a bit. Light did have a point, it didn't catch her off guard since he did seem to be right most of the time when it came down to it. '_Still, I'm afraid,_' she thought feeling uneasy about everything that had come to pass so far. "Maybe Xejicka was right, we're going to suffer for the rest of-"

"The hell we're not!" Light said bringing his fist down, Dark heard the _thud_ as the closed palm connected with the concrete roof. "Stop talking like that, Dark!" he said noticing the pained look in her eyes. "Talk like that is going to get you nowhere," the tone in his voice changed, yet his partner could tell he was still a bit angry.

**With Terra and the others**

Terra closed the door to his closet and sighed, flopping down on the bed with his face buried into a pillow. He closed his eyes trying to forget certain events that happened today, but memories were something cruel to him, they couldn't be forgotten so easily, and some he wish he didn't forget.

"Rough day then?" Ven asked spinning around in the computer chair. Aqua shook her head and sighed.

"Where are Light and Dark anyway?" she asked looking back at the other two blue eyed males. Ventus shrugged for a moment and looked back at Terra.

"I think they're somewhere around the area…" Terra said, his voice was muffled by the pillows. "That's the second time they've missed their trip to the beach."

"Maybe they don't really _**want**_ to go to the beach." Ven said as he stopped himself from spinning. "If I didn't know any better, I think they're avoiding us."

"But why?" Aqua asked looking down at the beige carpet in Terra's room. "That doesn't make since."

"Or maybe, someone's not letting them go," Ven then decided to say, remembering that those two were staying with Mr. Brooks.

"That's more likely…" Aqua said looking back at Terra's shoes for a moment, they were a mixture of black and white designs. "What do you think, Terra?"

"I think…" he ran his hand under his pillow, feeling something with a soft cover on it. '_That's her journal…_' Terra thought. "I think… We should probably take them out for some ice-cream tomorrow." He said flipping over on his back, staring up at the dark colored ceiling of his room. "Something tells me they're going to need some cheering up…"

"Yeah…" Ven and Aqua said in unison with a defeated sigh.

**With Sora and Amaterasu**

"I'm going to give you guys a break though," Dark said flopping down on the grass, it seemed very cold to her touch, and Light looked at his sister for a moment. "I know it's a lot for the two of you to take in, so we're going to break it down slowly for you, till it's time for you guys to move on."

"We're leaving this place soon?" Sora asked looking around their fabricated world. It was a real shame to leave this place, he felt at peace with himself, which could be the same feeling Amaterasu felt as well.

"You're going to go and talk with someone who is half a rank higher than us." Light said lying on his stomach, the elemental propped his elbows up so that he could rest his chin on his hands. "Don't worry though, he's very nice, a little weird but nice."

"But we're still not done yet with you two, so just relax." Dark said turning the afternoon sky dark. Stars began to appear, one by one, the diamonds glimmered with the moonlight that painted the night sky. Sora looked up and pictured several shooting stars, and the dark hared teenager looked up, noticing the array of moving stars. "I'm sort of getting attached to the two of you." Dark said honestly.

"It's going to be a bit lonely without the two of you." Light said looking up at the moving stars.

"Then…" Amaterasu tore her gaze from the night sky, and placed her attention on the two elementals, "come with us!" she said.

"We are going to go with you, not physically though," Dark said smiling for a moment.

"Just don't think you're going mental when you're on the other side, we'll drop in from time to time." Light said yawning for a moment.

"Also, don't be surprised if you meet others like yourself, by that I mean those who wield Keyblades as well, just don't assume that they are all kind-hearted in nature…" Dark said, her yellow eyes starting up at the night sky. "I wonder if there will be another _**war**_ for the two of you, when you two go back…"

**A/N: You know what to do **_**one**_** review please!**

**poena inside adveho incedo vos**- it translate to '_pain inside comes to awake you'_. It's a 'tweaked' lyric taken from the song 'Satellite'. If you listen to it, you'll understand why this chapter deals with being a bit distant, emotionally and/or physically.


	6. VI Memoria pt1

**A/N: **Thank you so much you guys for the reviews! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while but writers block almost got to me!

**Sonic13:** You're full of questions aren't you? I'm just kidding, it's good that you're asking questions. There are two pairs of the character Light and Dark, the people, and the elements that are with Sora and Amaterasu, and I can't give out to much info on number 13 just yet.

**Eve Lionegoth Raine:** Thank you very much for the advice. Latin isn't my strong point since I'm learning it on my own with an online dictionary, but that's not really helping as I can tell. Other than that thank you very much about the warning of the plot hole, I noticed it on the second read through of it. Hopefully I can answers the question that were left unanswered through this sequel and the next one coming after. give Rozen my greetings!

**Xejicka:** Thank you so much Xejicka for the review, it means a lot. I hope you like this chapter also, you come out in it! Anyway there's more of the past coming your way, so keep your eyes open to the detail, well sort of anyway. Have fun reading!

Now with that... On with the story!

**Chapter Six: Memoria Part 1**

Shimasax sighed for a moment, watched the waitress walk away from the table in which he sat by. '_He gave me just a bit of data…_' the _Chilly Academic_ thought, and that was enough for him at the moment. He thought back to something that had occurred not that long ago…

"_He once shouldered the darkness, so that perhaps made him half-dark." Xiaga said looking away from his two comrades. "That's why I thought he was the Superior for a moment…" he said pausing for a moment to drink something, "not because of the cologne…" he muttered under his breath._

"_All right already…" Shimasax mumbled slightly._

"_Ironic… the dark powers given to him helped with his escape from the realm of darkness…" Ruxsud said closing the puzzle book._

_Shimasax placed a hand under his chin, and looked off to the side. "One who has ties to both the Keyblade and the darkness, I think this calls for more further research." He was in his own little world now._

"_Hey look, Shimasax is getting fired up…" Ruxsud said looking at number 5. Xiaga looked at Ruxsud's short silver hair, and then back to the Chilly Academic._

"_Yeah, once he's on something's trail nothing will be able to stop him. But what __**I**__ want to know is why he decided to show up in Amber Pacific, just by himself, without any help…"_

_Shimasax lifted his head slightly, and flicked his wrist. "Ha! You know that's very simple. It's because his existence resonates with that of the other heroes," Ruxsud looked at Shimasax for a moment, and then cracked open his puzzle book. "Light and Dark appeared there, so naturally he followed." He said noticing that Ruxsud's green eyes were on his book. "Just like light and shadow…" he said. "If Xauqa gets those two, then all we have to do is get __**him**__ back. If he's truly like the Superior, then we're going to be untouchable!" the Chilly Academic whispered to himself._

The Chilly Academic sighed bringing himself back to the present. There was nothing he could do for now, but go back to Castle Oblivion, he knew that he couldn't get _**him**_ to come back so willingly, which wasn't going to be the kind of news the others would want to hear about. Shimasax's green eyes looked up at the night sky noticing that there were a couple of fallings stars. '_Past actions written in the sky…_' he thought sighing once more.

"We'll find a way to get _**you**_ back, just wait and see…" he said pushing back some strands of blonde hair way from his face. With that he got up and proceeded to pay the bill for the three cups of decaffeinated coffee he had consumed, making his way inside the café shop and then back out, raising his hood and disappearing into the night.

**The Enigmatic figure**

He watched as two figures disappeared from the abode and relaxed, he felt tense around them for some reason, because he was afraid that they would find out who he really was. '_This place is fake though, why should I really care?_' he thought for a moment.

"It's because they look just like _**them**_." He said softly to himself, those two brought back unwanted memories to the figure, some he wished he could forget. His heart gave him emotions, his body contained his heart, yet without his soul to give since of identity, he felt less human. "A mass of emotion…" he said to himself pounding his fist into the wall. "It's not enough…" he said to himself leaning against the brick wall, he breathed in the cool crisp night air. He was surrounded by the darkness the backside of the house produced, and he laughed at himself. "Yet humans are selfish needy creatures…"

_He opened his eyes, and the area around him was blurry. "Where am I?" he asked himself trying to see anything that looked remotely familiar. "Is it bright… or is it dark…?" he was in a void of nothingness. "I can't feel anything…" he outstretched his gloved hand for a moment, and he could clearly see his shadow. "What's going on…?"_

Within the frame of his mind, he remembered it all, that fateful day when he was separated from his two closest friends.

_A strange light was starting to obscure his view, and he could make out the silhouette of a very large door. He noticed that the light was going through the door, but everything around him was surrounded by darkness. He pulled out his familiar weapon and looked at the large door. "The door… it's…" he looked in back of him noticing a familiar light. "Mickey what are we going to do?!" he cried out, he was afraid._

"_Close the door!" Mickey replied, he noticed that the round eared mouse was off fighting the Heartless within the area. "The others should be on the other side!"_

"_Outta my way Heartless!" the teen yelled slicing the Heartless with some ease, he felt tired for some reason. He could hear other voices on the other side of the door, and he felt glad for some reason._

On that day he knew that if he was able to have gone through the door he would've been back home with his friends.

"_It won't budge, it's too heavy!" he could hear his friend struggled with the large door. It made him realize something for that fraction of moment in time._

"_DON'T GIVE UP!" he cried out grasping the door's edge. "Come on, together we can do it!" he said urging his friend to help him close the door. He looked back and noticed that round eared mouse had his Keyblade raised into the air._

"_Now, let's close this door for good!" Mickey said, and the teen could see his silhouette._

"_But what'll happen to you two?" his friend asked in alarm._

"_HURRY!" the teen yelled noticing that the Heartless were starting to gather around him._

"_I know now that without a doubt there's always going to be a door to the light," Mickey said, and those words encouraged to the two boys._

He knew that they would see each other again soon.

"_Hey take care of her," he said catching one last glimpse of his blue eyed friend. "I'll be back, I promise…" but those words fell on deaf ears as the door finally closed once and for all._

The figure sighed for a moment and looked up, smiling slightly. He noticed the falling stars. "And after that…"

_The figure sat up from the void of nothingness. 'Did I escape?' he thought to himself and looked around. "Mickey…Mickey where are you?" he asked looking around._

_He is very far away…_

"…_?! Who's there?"_

_Just sleep, and leave the war with Darkness in his hands._

_Sleep here, between the light and dark._

"_Between… What?"_

_The piercing light of initiation will only bring suffering the one who is in your state. Just turn from the light, shut your eyes from it._

_Here, covered by darkness, where sleep is your safety, where it is eternal._

"_You want me to sleep here, forever?" he asked looking up at the white vast nothingness. "You've got to be kidding me!" he moved forward trying to find a door, moving around blindly, and he stumbled forward. "How do I get out of here?" he looked around and noticed something appear before him. "What's this?" he asked looking at the strange glowing orb._

_I'll be the door to the truth…_

_Follow me and your sleep ends…_

_I'll take you to the first step towards the truth…_

_He outstretched his hand and the orb disappeared into his palm._

_Just take heed when I say this._

_The truth will possibly bring you pain._

_Will you still traverse along the path to truth?_

_For there can be no guarantee of returning to sweet safe slumber._

"_Yeah well…" the teen sighed for a moment and pushed back some strands of brown hair. "This looks like a really boring place to take a siesta in." he said outstretching his hand, another weapon appeared in position of the Keyblade. _

_Well said, Avenger…_

He sighed for a moment noticing that he was sitting on the cold concrete floor near the bricked wall of the home. He out stretched both of his hands, and two familiar weapons appeared, one with a chain, and one without a chain. It had been a while since he had seen those weapons, and now when he summoned them he felt a bit strange, since the only thing dancing around in his mind was nostalgia, which could possibly describe the way he was feeling at that moment.

"The Hero, Avenger, and Messenger…" he said to himself looking at the night sky once more. "Just like the old days…" the one titled Avenger said for a moment. "I wonder how Jackie and the little artist are doing…" he asked himself and he could only hope that the two of them were doing well, and he hoped once more that it would be true.

There was once a time where he was titled 'hero' but that was so long ago. He could remember it as it being something vivid within his heart, despite the fact that he was created less than a year ago. This enigmatic figure titled 'Avenger' held on to the memories of his past life, one that he wished he could forget at points, but _**she **_always asked him why he would want to throw away his true self. He would tell her that it was because he wanted to be himself. He met _**her**_ a long time ago, back when he was still of heart, body, and soul. _**She**_ was known as the first of _**their**_ kind, because within the memories he knew that someone else was one of _**them**_ as well.

"I won't fully have my identity or understand the question as to _**why**_, until the one in charge is gone." He said to himself softly and stood up from the ground. A sheer jolt of pain made him stumble forward, and he clutched his chest for a moment. "Damn it… Not again!" the enigmatic figure cried out in pain. His divided heart felt heavy for some reason, and it caused a great deal of pain with every muscle he moved to try and stand up.

"_You'd really think you could get away from me?"_ that voice was all familiar. _"Let alone try and harm me? A tiny weakling that still rejects the darkness, and yet, is afraid to go back to the light?"_

"Shut your mouth…" he said his voice faltered for a moment.

"_There's no light here to help you… Pretty soon you'll just be engulfed in darkness. You might as well just accept that fact."_

"_You're wrong!"_ another voice yelled out. _"Please just listen carefully to me. The light will never shun you. You'll always find it even in the deepest darkness."_

"Mickey…?" the figure looked around for a moment, trying to catch a glimpse of the round eared mouse. From his travels, he knew that this mouse was now of royal status. Still for some reason it didn't seem like the king at all.

"_You're going to have to open your eyes to see that light though…"_ the kind voice said.

"_Are you going to cling to those words of sympathy?"_ the other voice said. The enigmatic figure looked away, focusing his gaze on a street lamp. _"I'm starting to feel sorry for you…"_

'_You understand why you're supposed to feel sorry for me…_' the enigmatic figure thought finally relieved to have one voice leave him. "I just…" he sighed for a moment and looked down at the ground underneath his knees, "… I just want to know _**who**_ I am."

**With Sora and Amaterasu**

"Terra, Ven, and Aqua…" Light said softly looking down at the sleeping figures. Both Sora and Amaterasu were fast asleep, exhausted from the _day_ they had.

"Those three…" Dark said, looking down at the two sleeping Keyblade bearers. "They lived through the war of those who sought out the Keyblade's infinite power." The dark elemental being said, her tone seemed a bit remorseful. "Xehanort… He never should have sought out such terrible power."

"We tried to warn him, you know that." Light said trying to comfort his sister. "Still it's for the best I suppose; the great one himself saw it coming."

"Still I know that _**he**_ works in mysterious ways, but… We could've intervened that day."

"And risk our whole existence?!" Light asked quickly. Dark tried to make him lower his voice. "You really are insane! It would not have made any difference, God would've stopped time, or…"

"_**Father**_ wouldn't have deemed that day the day of judgment…" the dark elemental being said folding her arms. "You're thinking WAY too far into the future." She said and sighed for a moment. "Now let's go back… Ignis Xehanort's whole body was placed inside that sphere thanks to those three, and the help of King Mickey." Dark said yawning for a moment. "When Riku sat down on the chair of the 'Room of Sleep' the sphere reacted, noticing that he carried Terra's lineage."

"Of apprentice… That's right." Light said joining in the conversation. "Terra was the apprentice of Ignis and Riku was that of Xehanort's Heartless, in a way." He said closing his eyes for a moment. "Though if I'm not wrong… Terra carried Kingdom Key while Riku carries the Way to Dawn."

"Yes, which brings the other point Riku was the Keyblade's original chosen one, and Terra wielded Kingdom Key making their destinies almost the same."

"Sora would've been the one in Riku's shoes then…" Light said, looking down at the mentioned sleeping teenager. "But now… Sora's taking Terra's role, and Riku's taking Ventus' role."

"Exactly…"

"Still… With the destruction of Xemnas, that soulless being is out there somewhere." Light said looking up at the night sky for a moment. "We shouldn't worry so much about Sora and the others then, if _**his**_ other being is alive."

"Ignis would just likely seem like a far off distant memory now… Though with him being trapped in the sphere for that long I doubt that's the last the worlds will hear of that man. He had more than enough time to split his being." Dark said putting her hands behind her head. "Sora and the others fought against his Heartless, since Riku was the vessel for the Dark Master… Which means that now they might go up against his _other_… with the organization that is starting to act up…"

"It's possible that he's already aware of what to do next…" Light said scratching the back of his head. "That means the next step is to look for his heart…"

"It's due to matters like this that make me glad I'm not human…" the dark elemental being said gladly. "They're going up against an almost complete human. Light and darkness won't be kind to Sora and his friends… Though we _**have**_ to step in once that Nobody is taken care of…"

"To prevent another disaster from happening…" the light elemental said pausing for a moment. "If we explain it to them right now…"

"We can't though, we already know of the outcome, so even giving a small hint will put us in a bad spot." The sibling said softly and sighed. "Besides Brother, let's just let them rest. Time passes by slower here; when they leave here months will have passed on the other side…"

"Ah, yeah I forgot about that." The sibling said sighing for a moment. "I guess then they'll just have to figure it out on their own." Light said disappearing from sight.

"Sleep tight you two…" Dark said smiling back at the sleeping teens. "See you in the _morning_."

Sora woke up slightly as Dark disappeared from sight, he had pretended to fall asleep, and he had a good idea of what was going on now. '_I'll tell her in the morning…_' Sora thought looking at Amaterasu's sleeping figure. He looked down at his hands for a moment and sighed heavily. "This is the price all Keybearers pay…" the young teen said softly. Sora felt like he was just a grain of sand. "There are so many things we don't know…" he said clenching his fist around a couple of blades of grass.

**In Amber Pacific**

"M…Maybe we… should turn back," Dark said softly. She tugged on Light's red shirt, like a child. Her companion knew that she was afraid, and he tried to respect it, but something in his heart told him that he shouldn't let fear stop him.

Dark clenched her fist, and placed her closed hand down at her side shutting her eyes. She was afraid beyond recognition for that moment. What Xejicka had said finally started to catch up with her. Light didn't move forward, but he didn't look back at her either, yet he understood her emotions right now.

"Dark… If you want you can…" Light sighed for a moment, he couldn't really bring himself to say it. He didn't want her to stay behind, he had made a promise, that the two of them would go back together. "Listen, I know how you're feeling, and I know you don't want to lose your memories, but…"

"You'll forget about _**them**_, Light…" she said softly shaking her head. She had both of her palms on her chest for a moment and shook her head. "The two of us worked so hard… We both struggled so much, and now we're going to lose all the precious memories we worked so hard to create… to remember…" Dark said and looked back at him; she noted that he slumped his shoulder forward in defeat.

"But that's not going to stop me!" Light said looking back at her. "I told you, we're going to work this out somehow…" he said trying to calm himself down. "Nothing's ever stopped me before, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let fear stop me now!"

"The more we wander into the place, the more we forget. Soon…" Dark said biting her lip. "Soon we probably won't be able to go back!"

"No!" Light yelled back at his partner stomping his foot. "We will go back! I'm sure of it!"

"How can you be so sure about, if you can't even trust yourself?!" she cried out.

Light flinched; he didn't expect her to say that. '_That day when that girl's name popped up… Things have been going down hill from there._' He thought looking down at Dark's black shoes.

"I… I'm sorry…" Dark said noticing the emotional weight her words carried. "I never should've said that, Light. It was out of line…"

"It's all right," he said giving her a rather hurt smile. "But you're right. Ever since we remembered about Ames, our memories really haven't been the best help. I'm glad you reminded me about that. Still…" he went back to the beginning. "The two of us have to see this through. We have to go back."

"Do… Do you remember who you're going to back to?" she asked softly. The two of them sat down on a nearby wooden bench, trying to recollect who they had left back home. Dark looked at Light for a moment noticing that he held a look of worry. '_What if I forget about you?_' she thought to herself. '_I'm going to be alone…_' she thought. '_Terra and the others are my friends as well, but…_'

"I don't remember _**them**_, but I know that we have a connection… Their faces might not be clear, or the memories but the feeling I get…"

"Yeah…" Dark said softly, resting her hands on her lap. She played with the fabric of her dark jeans. "I get what you mean. Well then, we might as well just move forward then there's no point in just wasting time in this place."

In the distance a figure watched as the two figures got up and walked towards the next part of town. He sighed, but he couldn't but call out their names softly to himself. He shook his head, the beads around his neck _clinked_ together. "She looks so much like you, _Dark_." The figure said making fun of the name she had chosen. "I suppose it doesn't matter though, to the two of you to forget those who fallen."

"_You're talking to yourself buddy!"_ a cheerful voice entered his mind. _"That's not healthy! How many times do I have to tell you that? Why not just go up and talk to them? And tell your other friends who the heck you really are. You know one day you're going to get me ticked off and--!"_

"You get so worked up over nothing." The figure said lowering his hood. His brown hair looked a bit messy because of the hood. "Shouldn't you be out of sight?"

"_Ha, ha…"_ the voice forced a chuckle, but wasn't amused. _"Anyway Mr. Tall, blue eyed, and handsome,"_ the figure felt his cheeks get red but the voice continued, "_I'm back in the castle for now. If those two continue on their path they're going to reach that place… What are you going to do?"_

"Help them… and…Save you…" the figure said so modestly.

"_I'd expect that from you."_ The voice giggled.

The figure trudged along after them, making sure not to be in their way. He had told his friends that he was going to be gone for a couple of days, on a family trip. The young figure knew that those two would accept what he said without any question because they were like his exactly like his friends from the past. '_Still… I don't want to be him, I want to be __**me**,_' he thought to himself.

"_There you go again…"_ the voice said giving a small sigh. _"Why do you want to throw away those memories?"_

"They aren't _**my**_ memories…" he said mumbling. "What about yours?"

"_They my not be something I can call my own, but that's how I met you, right?"_

"…" the enigmatic figure looked down at his feet for a moment staring at the modified boots. He walked along the same concrete sidewalk that the other figures traversed along. "When… can I see you?" he asked looking ahead.

"_I don't know…"_ the voice responded dimly. _"As long as you believe we'll see each other one day, I know that…"_

The figure froze for a moment and looked around; he could feel the change in pressure as he stepped into the next area of Amber Pacific. '_Not again…_' he thought looking around again. All he could see were street lamps, several amber and pink tinted mailboxes. Buildings were lined up on either side of the street, but he didn't see the other figures in front of him. The enigmatic figure couldn't hear the voice of his companion as well, and it was starting to worry him quite a bit now.

Someone across the street cackled at the stunned figure. "It's been a bit too long, hasn't it?" the voice seemed a bit older, but nonetheless the enigmatic figure knew the voice, and so he feared the new presence.

The enigmatic figure looked at the new presence, and gasped slightly. '_No…_' he thought in fear, and felt his eyes widen for a moment. The figure looked slightly aged, with amber eyes and a strange suit composed of white, red, and black. The old man wore white gloves on each hand. Around the aged figure a sort of strange dark aura broke away as the old figure took a step forward, and the enigmatic figure backed away slowly.

"Why do you still shun the darkness? You used it as a weapon." The old man reminded him, he gave the enigmatic figure a crooked smile. The other figure stood his ground now opening and closing his palm slightly.

"Just as I thought…" the enigmatic figure spoke, lowering his hood. "It's you…" he noted that the old man began walking through the empty street, "Xehanort."

"Clever boy!" Xehanort said clapping mockingly. The teen growled for a moment and stood up against the old man.

"You want me to go back, so that you can play puppet master?" he asked looking up at the pair of amber eyes. They had terrified him in the past, and they were what once fueled his hate towards the old man, but now he just didn't know how to feel.

"You know the answer to that…" Xehanort said softly, the tone sent chills down the teen's spine. Xehanort outstretched his hand, and the enigmatic figure fell to the ground with something setting his heart a blaze, the pain was insufferable to his whole being.

The enigmatic figure tried to keep his gaze fixed on the old sinister man with amber eyes, but soon he faded away. He stood there on his hands and knees breathing heavily, the pain in his heart slowly started to fade away. '_Damn_,' he thought picking himself up, the pressure around the area was back to its normal build.

"Where did they go?" he looked about the area, he saw that people were bustling around resuming their day. The enigmatic figure walked forward and dusted his black coat off, noticing that some debris was still on his black coat. He was now within a crowd of people, citizens to the world known as Amber Pacific. As he walked physically he was surrounded by people but within his mind he was alone. The figure looked up at the sky watching as how the breeze carried the clouds across the sky blue heavens. From another view one could see a figure stand out among the crowd, he had stopped moving, watching the sky.

Once more the figure lost himself in the movement of the crowd traversing the street once more, trying to get back to his original path. He sighed for a moment hearing his mind calm down, awhile back there was a cracking sound, as if the earth was just breaking away at his feet. Now he was safely on the other side of the street and he looked around once more, searching for two people.

Days ago he would've been with two more people, he would've been happy with the figures of the past, but he knew that everything would be short lived when two certain people would start to try and back to their place. '_It's not their fault…_' he thought walking along the sidewalk with a people that walked by going along their busy day. He had been following them for almost a year now, and now he lost their trail due to the projection created from his heart. '_His Heartless, a body with a wicked soul of darkness, able to take over a body with a heart,_' he thought thinking back to what happened several moments ago.

He came across the image of his heart's darkness, the Heartless dressed in black and red, with a tattered piece of black fabric that hung to the Heartless like a skirt. This had been several weeks after the defeat of someone by the title of the Dark Master of the Keyblade. The enigmatic figure remembered that he had come across both of the people he was _stalking_ years ago. '_I thought the boy was Xehanort…_' he thought sighing as he looked forward.

"_I'm sorry Rax,"_ the voice said in a soft tone. To him the tone was so angelic there was no need for the voice to apologize like that. For him he felt a strange sensation when he heard the soft voice, he felt safe. _"He blocked me out of your heart."_ The enigmatic figure continued to tread about, and the voice continued to speak in his mind. _"Please tell those two I'm sorry as well."_ The voice ceased and soon he was emotionally alone, no soothing voice to calm his restless mind.

"Ammi…" he muttered softly. His strange brown hair swayed gently with the light breeze, and his blue eyes looked into the distance of the area around him. The city was still up and about unaffected by all the things that were happening, this truly was a fabricated world created by those two specific people and the one who controlled all of existence. Still if there was such a being that controlled all of existence why did terrible things happen? His mind would always wander to that strange topic. Someone with no soul, many would say, has no knowledge to try and grasp the concept of the beliefs of those who _**have**_ a soul.

"Hey come on, let's go!" several children ran past the enigmatic figure wearing a black hooded coat. He looked as the children ran down the sidewalk breaking the cycle of walking. He noticed a smile on a young girl's face, and suddenly it triggered a memory of someone from the past of his former self.

'_When things seemed almost prefect…_' the enigmatic figure thought. He compared himself to the children, noting that physically he held the appearance of someone around their teenage years. Again another little memory flooded his mind, and he didn't feel anything, no emotion. He didn't want these memories, instead he wanted to create ones of his own, to retain his own existence as himself, and not someone from the past.

'Ammi' a kind nickname that seemed so distant now, and yet when he muttered her true name it brought pain. "This is the price all the wielders of the Keyblades must pay…" the enigmatic figure said to himself, and walked along the noisy hustle and bustle of the city.

**Hours ago within Castle Oblivion**

Xejicka sighed for a moment resting up in the room decorated to her liking. On the ceiling of the room she called her own, glow-in-the-dark stars of a certain red hue were plastered onto the ceiling. In the distance of her room was a picture that had been taken sometime ago. She sat up from her couch and watched the portrait for a moment and smile at the memory. Ruxsud and another member were sitting side by side, with Xejicka practically stuffing her ice-cream into her mouth. A young figure was laughing slightly, while Ruxsud looked away feeling embarrassed in the picture. Another member by the name of Xehart was sitting beside them with a sitar pressed against his back waving at the camera.

The number 13 had been something she was slightly preoccupied with. Everything within Castle Oblivion was accommodated with 13, and it was starting to drive her a bit insane.

"I need to do something…" she said to herself and pushed back some strands of her hair. "I wonder where the little _Melodious Nocturne _is at…" Xejicka said tearing her gaze away from the portrait of happier days. With that she walked around the halls of the castle humming a simple tune and pondered for a moment of the locations of the member who played the sitar.

"Hey Xeji!" a voice greeted her happily, and she looked off to the side noticing a door open. "What have you been up too?"

"I should ask you the same thing Xeh… We don't see you in the castle so often." Xejicka said putting her hands on her hip with a playful smile. "You came to pay me a visit, right?" Xehart laughed and patted a seat next to him. It was a while before either one of them spoke.

"All right then, Ms. Flurry of Dancing Flames," the dark hared organization member said. "I'm going…"

"Hey no seriously," she said looking at the green eyed figure. "Why did you come?"

"I heard about number 13…"

"…" her slightly hazel eyes looked away from her fellow organization member. Xehart placed a soft hand on the top of her head, patting her in reassurance. Xejicka's heart was racing a bit at the mention of 13, again. Once more she thought about the number and _**his**_ face appeared within the frame of her mind. She clenched her hand shut into a tight fist.

"I…" Xehart sighed heavily standing up. "I'm sorry…" he said looking back at Xejicka. "But hey come on, he wouldn't want you to worry about him, right?"

"Still I mean, he left without… No, I just didn't pressure him into staying." Xejicka said looking up at Xehart. The two of them sighed for a moment.

"I heard he's still around… There are rumors going around saying that Shimasax saw him."

"Huh, you know Shimasax is all just talk." Xejicka said standing up. "Anyway you want to go and get some ice-cream?"

"Sure, I'll take you up on that offer. It's a date!" Xehart said giving his fellow friend a kind gesture of a smile.

"You wouldn't have a chance with me, not in a million years!" Xejicka said with a playful smile.

"Why is that?" Xehart asked folding his arms.

"You know what happens when you play with fire…" Xejicka said walking away towards the hallway.

"Hey, I end up cleaning after you!" Xehart said walking after his friend. "And I don't get burned!"

"Oh yeah…" Xejicka said messing up Xehart's dark hair. "We make steam!"

"… Very funny…" Xehart said trying to fix his hair again. At least for now he was able to make his good friend feel a bit better now.

Xejicka continued to hum a familiar tune that her good friend, who was once number 13, had taught her. _Fly me to the Moon_ was the name of the song to which she hummed to, and something she would forever place within her heart and it would forever touch her _**soul**_.

**Destiny Islands**

This was probably the third time Riku heard that name ring out loudly in his ears. He fell back against the bed and closed his eyes once more, praying to try and get a goodnight's sleep. This was starting to upset him, and he didn't like it one bit. He was hearing two voices, one was female, while the other was male. He didn't recognize the voices at all, but one said that she knew him. To Riku nothing was coming to mind, but a name he had found inside an mp3 device. '_I have to give it back to that person…_' he thought lying awake in bed, the voices were starting to haunt him to no end.

The girl, he knew was of great deal of importance to him. Yet he couldn't put a name to the face of the girl. Kairi was having the same problem, she had told him a while ago. '_maybe… I'm still dreaming, and when I really wake up I'll remember,_' that was the thought that kept him going. He remembered something that he had written a while ago...

'To the girl I never met before, I'm sorry that I haven't met you just yet. I'm out there everyday in the sun trying to look for you. There's something I want to tell you, it may sound like a ramble but just to let you know... that the _**earth**_ wakes up when the rays from the _**sun**_ touch everything around it. I can't put a name to your face, but I know that you resonate with the _**sun**_ yet at one point there was a long period of the era of an eclipse. What happened to you? The _**earth**_ cries out for you, and soon your rays came back to touch the land and life around the whole universe. Do you remember your friends, the _**sky**_ and _**sea**_? You probably do, even thought you're very separate from _**us**_, seeing as how you are the center of the universe…'

That was the product of a strange idea running in his head, and he had enough time to write it down on paper somewhere. '_I'll show it to the girl once I can remember her…_' he thought closing his eyes and soon drifting off to sleep.

"_Your name… It means Earth."_ The teenage girl said softly looking at the figure in front of her.

"_I know…"_ the figure said dimly, he sighed heavily.

"_You… You don't like your name?"_ she asked him, and he tried hard not to respond.

"_It's… not that… I don't like it…"_ the figure said softly. The place around them was well lit, but their faces couldn't be seen, just an arm, or maybe their feet, or their body, but never the face. _"Someone who I looked up to, told me that, and… he's done something terrible."_

"_Do you dislike him, do you hate him?"_ the girl asked the figure in front of him.

"_I wish I just knew what that terrible thing was…"_

"_You don't remember then…" _the girl walked forward, her shoes moved across the area. _"You think it's better that you don't remember?"_

"_Maybe… But I feel empty, you know what I mean?"_ the sound of fabric began to rustle; it was obvious that the figure looked up at the girl. The girl chuckled for a moment.

"_It's natural to feel empty…"_ the girl said softly.

"_You… You never told me your name…" _the figure wanted to jump off of the other topic desperately.

"_That's right!"_ the voice sounded a bit playful. _"It's got to do with the sun! Come on, guess!"_

"_That's not fair! …"_ the figure moved forward a bit. _"Ammi?"_

"_Close… You'll get it right next time then."_

Dreams that weren't vivid, it something that bothered Riku to a certain extent, his mind was so preoccupied with about so many other things, his dreams couldn't focus on the faces. Yet he wanted to, he wanted to remember their faces, but something didn't allow him, something was blocking his heart from remembering. '_Ammi_' he thought, the name didn't sound very strange to him, '_I think I know you,_' he thought to himself.

Something broke his train of thought, a strange sensation brushed against his exposed arm, it was warm and soft. The silver bundle of fur stared back at the teen with yellow eyes. "Sleep…" the young silver pup said softly. "She's not coming right now."

Several blocks away Kairi stared up at the night sky, just waiting. The wine red hared teen made this a nightly routine to wait and see the night sky for something… No it wasn't something but rather it was someone who preoccupied her mind.

"I don't know your name though…" she said to herself sadly. "I think that's why I'm waiting for you… so I can remember your name. I can't but feel like this has happened more than once already."

**Sora and Amaterasu**

"Hey you think she'll remember about Ames?" the elemental being asked their sibling.

"To be honest Dark, if they do, I doubt it's going to be a happy reunion with them." The glowing elemental being said seriously, he meant every word of it.

"The two of you are worrying to much about the future." Someone else said in back of them.

"Look who decides to show up." Dark said turning her yellow eyes to the glowing orb.

"Hey, it's hard work being the voice of the deity." The orb said hovering about for a moment.

"We know…" the two other elementals said in unison.

"How are those two doing?" the voice asked.

"They're asleep for right now." Light said reverting back to his elemental form.

The voice sighed for a moment and looked back at the two of them. "This realm…" the three noticed the vast void of nothingness. "It's going to be their starting point."

"This is the place then…" Dark reverted to her original state and floated around zipping past the area, darkness rose up from the void from wherever she hovered about. In her path darkness started to move about, and from the depth of the darkness a strange creature rose, its yellow eyes starting up the dark hovering element.

"Before you bring _**these**_ things in there leave at least some part for the light." The voice said in a serious tone. "I don't want this place to be a Heartless petting zoo. Light," the voice addressed the element, "I don't want you to destroy them either."

"Understood... I never told them…" Light said looking back at his sibling. "The link that's mentally forming in their hearts."

"Oh that," Dark remembered about that certain detail. "Their minds can be linked together once they leave this place, just one of the perks of staying in a sacred realm, it'll come naturally to them though, so I'm sure they're figure it out…"

"You two are getting attached to a pair of mortals." The voice said chuckling. "They really are that extraordinary then. Then again, most of the Keyblade wielders are."

**With Nusvext**

The blonde hared member of Organization XIII walked along the busy sidewalks of the crowded area of Amber Pacific. '_I can sense them though…_' he thought to himself and pushed himself past the people that walked by. This was starting to annoy him to no end, he just wanted get this done. He looked back at the card he was suppose to give them, and pondered at the words written on it. '_It doesn't mean a lot…_' he thought and gave a sour look towards the Joker card.

"Ven wait up!" someone called after another person. The figure dressed in the dark hooded coat turned around slightly catching a glimpse of the one known as Ven. Something in his heart began to ache, but number 12 didn't let that stop him. He watched as a young teen with unusual styled blonde hair and blue eyes ran down the sidewalk. Another person followed behind, a young teenage girl with curious blue hair and blue eyes. '_I hate kids…_' Nusvext thought walking along the path, seeking out the other two individuals.

"I wonder if the card Xejicka gave them is doing its job…?" he asked himself as he headed down the sidewalk.

**A/N:** You know what to do _**one**_ review please!

_**Memoria**_ means 'memory'by the way.


	7. VII Memoria pt2

Now on with the story! The thank you part is at the end.  
**Chapter 7: Memoria Pt.2**

**Flashback**  
"I remember!" Light cried out in the middle of night. He woke up and threw the sheets off of his body and opened the door in a frenzy, he ran out quickly and knocked on the door with a black dot in its center. He didn't care if he was in his shorts; this was something important to the two of them. He knocked again, "Dark, open the door!"

He could hear rustling in the distance and he jumped to and fro on the tips of his feet waiting for his friend to open the door. Dark opened the door after finally climbing out of bed. She was wearing a black under shirt and grey shorts. She blushed slightly noticing that Light failed to put on a shirt, but she recovered shaking her head vigorously.

"My I ask why?"

"I remember!" he said shaking her, until she imagined that her neck would snap and then she pictured her body on the floor and that her head would roll on the floor. She looked back at her friend with a confused face. He grasped the necklace around his neck and looked at it for a moment. "Back in the other world, you know the ones we explored! Besides the four of us was another girl! Remember we use to just kickback and relax after a long days journey!"

"What… kind of girl was she?" Dark was still more asleep than awake.

"You remember she was really bubbly…" he said trying to remember. He remembered having someone sneak an ice-cube into his back. "Sneaky… And… when she wasn't doing that, she would always draw pictures too." He remembered the five of them sitting there and watching her draw, Light once had a moustache drawn in his picture. A good friend of Light had smirk etched onto his face. "But then… I remember that she left one day, remember?" Dark didn't say anything. "**He** and I looked for her, and we couldn't help but feel upset, we found a note on the old man's house saying she had moved." He said letting go of the necklace that hung around his neck.

"Her name… It wouldn't happen to be Ames, would it?" Dark finally spoke out something.

"So, you do remember?!"

Dark shook her head, nothing was coming up in her mind. She knew nothing about this 'Ames' person, all she had was a name and nothing more. "But if you remember her… Maybe I wasn't there those days…"

"I'm pretty sure you were…" Light said sounding very positive.

"Let's talk about this in the morning though, I'm tired…" Dark said slamming the door in his face. Light stared at the black dot fixed in the center and smiled in triumph.

* * *

Still what those didn't know that somehow remembering her was going to be a dreadful thing as well. '_You may no longer be __**you**_' those words plagued their hearts to no end. Dark one day stopped looking alongside Light, but eventually she went back because she couldn't handle being alone for that long. Light didn't want her to feel upset, but he knew she was afraid of moving forward. 

Now to the present matter of it all the two of them were waking down a sidewalk that led to the more neon lit part of Amber Pacific. This place was filled with take-out areas, and nail salon signs, rental car areas, movie theaters, anything that could light up an area, it had. Dark smiled slightly watching the lights, she had never seen so many lights in her life, everything seemed so bright even in the darkness, and she loved it. Light sighed for a moment complaining, he was saying that the place was going to blind him, and the two of them continued walking forward now.

"You don't remember her, do you?" Light asked walking along the crowd of people. Dark shook her head, she had no memory of this 'Ames' person, nor did she really want to know. Something told her that it was best if she just didn't remember her at all, but Light thought that was just being cruel.

"I don't think I should…" Dark said softly and looked down at her feet for a moment. Her black shoes moved her forward, even when her heart didn't want to. She sighed once more and continued on towards her path. Something was guiding them through Amber Pacific, even though Mr. Brooks had warned them.

* * *

**Flashback**  
"We'll be fine Mr. Brooks," Light said grinning. "We've got each other, so we'll be fine." 

"( ) and ( )…" the old man said in worrying tone. "You two are like my own children. I know that being a Keyblade bearer is no easy task."

Dark and Light looked away for a moment feeling some sense of dishonor, they remembered as the two of them were Keyblade wielders they had a right to uphold peace, but it pained them to know they couldn't use their Keyblades to do so. It didn't even faze the two of them that the old man called them by their true name, they didn't really feel anything. Mr. Brooks feared that the two of them would soon lose their sense of identity, a name was a precious thing, it was something not to have been forgotten so easily.

"Just write your names down…" he advised them seriously. "Don't forget them; you probably won't be able to be yourself without your real name."

"Yeah…" Dark said writing the first letter of her name. She looked back at Light and watched as he wrote his name slowly, he was almost afraid of what going to appear on the paper.

* * *

Light sighed for a moment and pulled out the thin sheet of paper that was tucked into the back pocket of his jeans. He looked at the name and felt a wave of relief just wash over him, remembering his real name sounded almost to good to be true, it was something that was all his own that no one could take away. Still it would've been nice if he could openly say his name, but he knew that both Dark and he were in danger, but of what, that was something they were still trying to piece together. 

In the distance a figure was slowly approaching the two of them as they walked through the crowded streets of the neon lit area of Amber Pacific. The blonde hared figure walked silently alongside the same sidewalk on which the two individuals traversed along. '_Man I don't want to just end up playing the little messenger, there's no point in it for me,_' he thought to himself as he kept a close eye on the teen with the red shirt, and the female with the black shoes.

"Do you remember her now?" Light asked.

"No! Stop asking me!" Dark finally snapped and stopped walking. "I'm getting sick of hearing her name, and I don't even remember her. It would've been better if you didn't remember her name!" she said growling for a moment. Nusvext found some pleasure in this, knowing that the one they were talking about could hear them so perfectly well. '_You hear that, the one who you want to get to know doesn't want to know you…_' the blonde thought forming a small smile.

"That's pretty harsh…" Nusvext finally spoke to the two of them, he walked forward and his boots made sounds as the modified footwear connected with the concrete. "You know when that poor girl finally hears how you don't want to remember her, she's going to be heartbroken, and her soul's going to feel crushed."

Dark and Light turned around and stared at the blonde hared male. From his appearance he looked about a year or two older than Dark. Light felt as though he had seen this person some where before, the blonde hair and blue eyes looked too familiar.

"Who are you?!" Light yelled out.

Nusvext crossed his arms and gave a big smile. "So, are you two enjoying your stay in Amber Pacific?" The newcomer ignored the male teen's previous question. Light looked back at Dark and then the two looked at the new comer dressed in black. The two partners didn't like the look in the older teen's eyes.

"That outfit…" Dark said softly looking back at Light for a moment.

"You're with Xejicka, aren't you?!" Light pointed at the blonde hared teen, and the newcomer grinned.

"Clever." He said in a slightly pleased tone. "The name's Nusvext." He stretched for a moment and looked around. The other two noticed that time had stopped for them once more. Neon lights lit the path for that certain part of the town, night was about to fall. "I bet that it's really nice, to still hold on to a sense of identity, and create new memories for yourself, and also awakening the true memories that lie deep in your heart."

Light gave the newcomer a strange look, giving a little scowl. Dark growled slightly forming a fist, she was shaking a bit. "You said 'that poor girl'…" Dark informed Nusvext, and she walked forward. "Tell me, do you know her? Is… Is she… here?" she asked him, shaking her fear slightly.

Nusvext stood up tall, and looked down at the girl, "'Tell me'?" he repeated, giving her a mild glare. "Is that how you ask someone a question?"

"Well…um…" Light put two of his fingers together and tried to think. "What she means is please tell me, your majesty? Err…"

"Light!" Dark yelled stomping her foot.

"I-It just came out that way!"

"Anyway if you know, tell me!" Dark ordered looking back at Nusvext.

Nusvext was a bit more preoccupied fixing his hair for a moment. "Anyway… You should already know that answer to that…" he said ruffling his hair.

"…" Dark felt her eyes widen.

"No way. You mean… She _**is**_ here?" Light asked stopping in his tracks.

"Yes and no." Nusvext said pulling something from the back of his pocket. "But you see there are bad guys that are holding her deep within a castle." Dark and Light jumped back noticing the sharp throwing knives in his grasp. "And you two, the Hero and Messenger, have to go and save her. Sadly, you know as with all fairy tales, there's a catch…" something moved through air and the neon lights reflected off the metallic surface. "_**I'm**_ a bad guy, so you have to go through _**me**_!"

Light felt himself get pulled back, and he narrowly escaped the yellowed colored knives with the light blue handles. There was a crest at the end of the handle, something neither one of the teens had ever seen. Another knife whizzed through the air, and Dark threw herself on the ground, trying hard not to get hit. Then another knife was thrown and Light felt himself get pinned to a wall. Dark picked herself up, narrowly avoiding a punch from the kunai wielding maniac. Light pulled himself away from the wall and tried to kick the blonde male teen, but Light got punched, and shortly was knocked in the ground clutching his right shoulder in pain.

Dark moved forward and tried to hit Nusvext somewhere close to the face, but he moved faster than she had expected. He grinned watching Light stand up, blood was running down his wounded shoulder. Another knife whizzed through the air, and Light didn't have enough time to move back. He was brought back to the ground, and something metallic _clinked_ against the concrete sidewalk.

* * *

**Flashback**  
"This necklace…" Light said pointing to the second item around his neck, it seemed like a very familiar shape. "I know someone else gave it to me, but I can't remember her name." Dark stared at the other item, trying to remember the story behind the royal shaped pendant, but nothing came to her mind. 

"That one…" she gingerly touched the pendant that seemed almost ominous. "That one is important to you too?" Light nodded and looked down at the necklace around his neck.

"I just wish I could remember that girl…" he said to himself softly.

* * *

Dark watched as both pendants and the chain fell to the floor, and she looked back at Nusvext with some anger in her eyes. Something was starting to flood back into her mind. 

"Light!" she looked back at him, and noticed that he was on the floor panting heavily, his right shoulder was still bleeding. She gripped one of the key chains that she kept hidden in her back pocket.

"Sorry about that. Are you all right?" Nusvext asked withdrawing his weapons of choice. For some reason Light could feel as though he got a jolt of static electricity when the weapons had connected with him. Light stood up, his companion helped him stand his ground.

"You-" he began to speak.

"Oh?" Nusvext's blue eyes looked down at the ground, by Dark's feet. "Dropped something, have you?"

Light and Dark watched the two pendants that were on the floor. One pendant seemed like such a foreign sight to the two companions. Light and Dark looked back at one another with puzzled faces. "Is that mine, or yours?" Light asked pointing to one of the pendants.

"You've been wearing it all this time, and you forgot?" Nusvext asked Light and looked back at Dark for a moment. His blue eyes looked down at the little pendant. "No, you couldn't have. That memory is engraved in your heart. Now, come on Light think. What, oh what…" he noted the wide eyes of Light and Dark looked away, "…could it be? Who gave it to you? Ask Dark though, she probably knows more than you do…"

"A…" Dark covered her mouth and looked down at the ground. She shook her head when Light asked her to continue you.

"Come on Dark, I know that you know. She was the one who told you to give it to him." Nusvext said trying to coax the name out of her. Dark shook her head, she was on the brink of tears, she felt sick inside. "Come on, Light doesn't remember…"

"Yes he does…" she mumbled softly looking up at Nusvext's blue eyes, they seemed to be enjoying the little show before his eyes. "Am…" she shook her head.

"That's right! Come on, free the memory from your heart! Her name stirs up the soul doesn't it?!" Nusvext yelled slightly, he laughed noticing the pained look on the teens face.

"Knock it off!" Light said standing in front of Dark. He growled for a moment looking back at the dark hooded member.

"Ames…?" Dark finally said her name.

In the distance from an area far away a young teen was watching the strange world change colors, the sky went from a deep shade of purple to a light hue of black and blue. She touched the glass for a moment and stared off into the distance, something in her mind echoed her name, the voice sounded so distant yet so familiar. She looked up at the ceiling with a puzzled look on her face for a moment. The girl pushed back some strands of silver hair and felt upset for some reason.

"Well it's about time." Nusvext said with a small grin. "That's right. Ames. She's the one who gave you that little cheesy pendant. Not that either one of you actually _**remembered**_ her. Remembering a name is enough, but what you feel from that name is just as important…" he grinned noticing the pained look on the two of them. "No surprise though, seeing as you forgot about her. Talk about you two being heartless…!" Nusvext walked over to the two fallen pendants and his had hovered dangerously close. "It's serve the two of you right if I _**smashed**_ these two pieces of junk!"

"Don't you touch it!" the two teens yelled. Dark quickly picked it up and gave it back to Dark. "Ames gave this to _**me**_." Light said scowling. "It's important to him!" Dark said defending her friend. "It's a precious memory!" the male companion said grasping the pendant tightly.

"Precious?" Nusvext asked mockingly. He watched as the kunai disappeared from the ground and the other areas where the blade had lodged itself in. Light winced as he felt the weapon leave his shoulder. "Spare me…" he said gripping the handles of the weapons in his closed palm. As fast as lightning the small knives moved through the air. "A couple of minutes ago you didn't even know what it was!"

The knives barely grazed Light, but he felt something else coarse through his body, rendering him paralyzed at the moment. His shoulder was still bleeding and he felt heavy for some reason. The knives were lodged into the wall of a near by building. Time was still frozen, but for Light and Dark's relief of mind this was nowhere near the pedestrians. Nusvext moved forward, and Light struggled to look up at the savage blue eyes.

"Brats like you two really get on my nerves. The two of you are so clueless!" The knives appeared in his hand once more, Nusvext was ready to bring the knives down. Dark rushed forward gripping the keychain in her back pocket, she closed her eyes and ran forward.

"You're wrong!" Dark said bravely, Nusvext felt something stop his attack. He watched as a strange looking weapon blocked his attack. His eyes widened for a moment and looked back at Dark, she was protecting her fallen friend. "Listen here, we don't need _**you**_ to tell us what's precious!" she responded pushing Nusvext back with her weapon.

Light felt his eyes widen as he stared at the Keyblade in awe and in fear. Dark had missed the feeling of having a weapon like that magnitude in her hands once more. She felt the sleeping power of the weapon flow through her, and she gave a sigh in relief. Nusvext recovered and gave a cold look. He groped through the pocket of his black coat and pulled out a card.

"Hmph. Grow up you two." A card struck Dark on the temple, and she fell back slightly. Light picked himself up and helped his good friend up. Light stared back at the weapon in the girl's hand, the keychain _clinked_ against the handle. "Here have another card to play around with. It'll guide you to more answers…" with that the teen started to fade away.

"WAIT!" the other two yelled. Time started to move forward, and Dark pulled Light away from sight, holding on tightly to the Joker card. A teen with a bloody shoulder and a teenage girl with a strange weapon didn't really look all that reassuring on the streets.

Light started to heal his shoulder when he noticed that Dark slumped her shoulder forward, withdrawing the Keyblade.

"Dark?" he called out to her. She shook her head and placed a fist on the wall of an alley. Light looked back down at the necklace he held and tucked it into the front pocket of his modified red shirt.

"I… I HATE HIM!" she said closing her eyes tightly. The same sick feeling was coming to back to her. "It's not… It's not fair that he's the one who made me remember now…" she said looking back at Light with watery eyes. "I know…" she paused for a moment and looked down at her black shoes. "Ames, I know that she's… I just didn't want… I just didn't want to remember now because… Because I…" she couldn't find the right words to continue.

"She's too special for that, isn't she?" Light asked, and Dark nodded letting the tears fall from her eyes. "She cared a lot for you…" Light said remembering how happy Dark and Ames were just being around one another. "You guys were like sisters…"

**In Castle Oblivion**

Xejicka had made it back just in time to watch everything that happened moments ago. She now sat on the couch licking the last bit of ice-cream left from her Popsicle. She sighed for a moment watching the Popsicle stick in her hand. The flavor never did last long, but the memory of eating it did. She looked back at the book near her feet and picked it up reading through the first several pages once more.

'_Light My Fire_' a published memoir by the keyboardist of the group called 'The Doors'. It contained important facts about the man by the name of Jim Morrison, who had been the lead singer of the band. Xejicka hummed the song the book was published after and heard someone walk around.

"Maybe_** you're**_ the one that needs to grow up, Nusvext." She had a playful smirk on her face as she heard that Nusvext had stopped walking about.

"Oh, shut up!" he said glaring at her. "I hate children in the first place. Though to be honest you remind me that… I hate children _**AND**_ idiots!" he said feeling ticked off.

"Ha, ha, ha…" the two organization members looks in front of them and noticed another figure come into view. A man with rather long blonde hair and green eyes appeared before them. "You seem certainly sensitive at the moment."

Nusvext looked down at his feet and sighed, and Xejicka looked at Shimasax for a moment and went back to her book.

"Just what I need… Another idiot to irritate me." Shimasax felt his eyes twitch for a moment as Nusvext ignored him and at the same time disrespected him.

"SHOW SOME RESPECT FOR YOUR ELDERS!" He snapped feeling his eye twitch again.

"So… Can we help you, Shimasax," Xejicka asked him putting her book down on her lap for a moment. "It's not very often that we see you above ground." She noticed the snickering on the older members face, and she tilted her head watching the _Chilly Academic _laugh.

"Well I just came to lend a hand." He said staring back at the two younger members with his green eyes. "I still slightly remain unimpressed of any potential in this 'Hero' and 'Messenger' that the three of you have been _**cuddling**_."

Xejicka and Nusvext looked at one another and then back at Shimasax. '_Cuddling?_' the chakram wielder thought thinking back to her first meeting with those two people. '_We aren't… Oh, he means figuratively…_' Xejicka thought snickering slightly.

Both of the younger members noticed that Shimasax started to move towards the side, and someone walked forward. Xejicka and Nusvext felt their eyes widen at the sight of the new comer. The younger looking blonde hared teen snapped and summoned his kunai sending electricity coursing through the metallic weapon. He was angry now at the sight of what he saw, and Shimasax could see that perfectly. Xejicka held the _Savage Fighter_ back from attacking either Shimasax or the newcomer.

"No, let me go!" the _Savage Fighter_ cried out trying to break free from the chakram wielder's grasp. "How dare he bring that in here!" he yelled out looking back at the new person. The new person flinched slightly, but soon recovered and stared back at the _Savage Fighter_ with the same cold eyes that he himself held.

"What's the point to this you old man?!" Xejicka asked angrily. The whole appearance of the figure made her heart to sink a bit, and with that she felt as though she needed to escape. The blue eyes of the figure before her seemed just like that of a previous member. The way he just stood there, everything physical about the figure before her eyes, it brought back memories of when things had seemed a bit more peaceful.

* * *

**Flashback**  
"This is your partner…" she remembered what the Superior had said a while back. Xejicka stared at the figure with curious slightly hazel colored eyes. The new figure just tilted his head for a moment, his blue eyes staring past her. The Superior was telling her his name, but she failed to pay full attention. 

"Hey, Rax." She said sticking out her hand. 'Rax' looked at the hand that was clothed with a black glove; he sighed for a moment and brought out his hand, to shake hers. He didn't speak to her, and for a moment the pyro-chakram-wielding member thought he was mute or something.

"For now you will show him to his room." The Superior's voice rang out in her ear, and she was able to follow that detail down perfectly.

The two of them walked down the hallway in silence, it didn't bother the two of them one bit. In the distance 'Rax' noticed a small cage with a doll in there. He looked at it curiously and noticed that the doll had slightly dark skin, a black plain gown, and silver hair. He looked beyond the cage and noticed a separate pathway that led to another room.

"Whoa, hey don't go in there!" the Flurry of Dancing Flames pulled back the Key of Destiny. "I'm supposed to take you to your room." She said pointing 'Rax' back on the right path.

"What's in there though?" 'Rax' couldn't help but just ask. Xejicka looked at he curious blue eyes and laughed slightly.

"You'll see what's in there soon enough, come on now, I have to show you your room."

"But why was there a doll in that cage?" he couldn't help but go back to that topic.

"I guess you could say the person in there is a caged bird." Xejicka said rubbing the back of her head. The two of them were walking down the white decorated hallways that had been built long ago.

* * *

Xejicka watched as the blue eyed individual walked forward slightly and looked at the three figures in front of him. She sighed and looked away for a moment. Nusvext and the _Flurry of Dancing Flames_ watched the person. He had the same unusual brown hair and blue eyes as their recent member. Yet his apparel was different, it didn't consist of a black hooded coat, but something else. A black colored suit went up to his neck, and on his chest was a familiar Heartless insignia outlined in red. On his arms blue streaks wrapped around the lower part of his arm, and on his hands he wore black gloves. There was a dark crimson belt around his waist that had red and black tattered fabric along the outer edges. He wore black and navy blue fabricated boots. 

**In another room of the castle**

Ames sat up in her white chair and felt something cause her to flinch. '_Another presence, but… This one has… No, that couldn't be, this thing has a soul…_' she thought looking at the unfinished drawing on her sketch book. "I need a new book too…" she said to herself softly and paused for a moment. She looked around the area which she titled 'her' white room and sighed. There were drawings of other people in her room, and she was trying to fill the area with as many of her own drawings.

"Sora… Riku, and Kairi." She said softly to herself and decided to take another look around the room once more. She looked at one picture where Roxas and Sora were holding hands. There was another drawing of the same brown hared teen with a strange looking dog and duck. There was another drawing of a member with a strange hair cut that held a sitar, with another teen with strange brown hair, and another figure holding a pair of chakram, this was her drawing. Ames sighed pushing some strands away from her face, and looked up at the white ceiling again.

"_What's up?"_

"Where are you?" she asked the voice.

"_I'm still with these two… she's crying…"_ the voice sounded concerned for a moment. _"She remembers you now, and so does he."_

"I know…" Ames said softly and sighed once more. "Oh, Xejicka went out for ice-cream… Xehart had stopped by," she said hearing the voice chuckle. "Xauqa stopped by here a moment ago, but I wasn't really putting that much attention to her."

"_You never do…"_

Ames chuckled for a moment and walked around her white room for a moment, taking in the memories that came rushing into her mind.

* * *

**Flashback  
**"So, you're the caged bird?" Ames stopped what she was doing and let the pencil fall from her left hand. Her light blue eyes looked up and noticed a young teenage male with blue eyes and brown hair. 

"Is that what they're saying now?" she asked the new person in the white room. She chuckled and shook her head. "I suppose if that's what people are saying, but I don't consider myself a caged bird…"

"You…" he sat across from her. A long white table separated the two bodies, and in the middle was a flower arrangement. "You… can't leave here, can't you?"

Ames looked down for a moment and tried hard not to answer, she instead asked the newcomer a question. "What's you name?" the figure smiled for a moment, and felt as though he had seen this girl somewhere before.

"My name… Which one?" he asked placing his elbows on the table.

She hid her smile with her hand, and he watched her movements carefully. "This, isn't the first time we've met, right?"

"My heart…" he sighed for a moment looking away. "My heart says no…"

"Why'd you come here? To this room I mean…"

"Well, Am-"

"Ames, if you don't mind." The girl in the plain black gown said softly.

"Well… Ames," he said smiling slightly. "I came because…" he paused for a moment finding her eyes connect with his for that brief moment. She noticed the pale blush creep up on him, and she giggled. "Hey!"

"Then stop blushing, Rax!" she said trying to control her laughter.

The two stopped laughing when they heard another pair of footsteps come into the white room. Ames looked up and noticed a slightly pleasant smile on the chakram wielder's face and then she looked back at the figure she called 'Rax'.

"So this is where you are!" Xejicka said happily and gave the 13th member of the organization a noogie.

"Cut it out, Xejicka!" the brown hared teen started to whine. "Ow…! Hey that hurts!"

"Xejicka…" Ames gave a slightly stern tone as she lifted her pencil.

Her hazel eyes shot back to the pencil in the silver hared individual's left hand. She froze for a moment and let go of the youngest member. The slightly dark skinned girl let the pencil fall, and Xejicka sighed in relief.

"Anyway Ames," the individual with the strange crest on her upper right cheek began to speak. "I have to take your little friend away for a while."

Rax sighed for a moment and looked back at Ames with a rather sad smile.

**Amber Pacific**

"You had to bring out the Keyblade, didn't you?!" Light punched a Heartless away from his body. Dark picked up a piece of rusted metal, and connected it head on with the midsection of a Heartless' body; it was sent backward knocking over several of its comrades.

"Well I'm sorry for trying to save you!" she yelled back angrily. Dark narrowly avoided an attack from an oncoming Air Pirate as it made a downwards kicking motion. She threw the rusted piece of metal and it collided with the soft flesh of the lesser Heartless, and she sighed in relief.

A Darkball appeared out of nowhere sending the female teen back, and it pinned her against the wall of a nearby building. "Let her go!" Light yelled out getting several Heartless to turn his attention on him. He ran forward and changed into his other form, yellow eyes stared back at the rest of the Heartless and he seemed to disappear into the shadows for several seconds.

The figure from earlier events had witnessed everything from the sanctuary of an alleyway, but even he wasn't safe from the Heartless. He looked to his side and noticed a pair of yellow eyes. He looked forward, and then back noticing that the pair of yellow eyes were gone. The figure looked forward and spotted the Heartless moving forward.

"Just great!" he yelled pulling out both of his preferred weapons, one with a keychain and one without.

Dark and Light noticed that the Heartless were starting to cease their attacks on them, and move into an alleyway. Light followed cautiously, still feeling the power of darkness run through his whole body, and in the distance he heard the _clink_ of a familiar sound, a keychain hitting a handle. Dark ran forward and Light placed a hand on her to keep her from moving towards the battle. The two of them watched as the two weapons connected with the Heartless with ease, and the figure had no problem fighting against the creatures composed of darkness.

The hooded figure jumped into the air and threw one of the strange weapons like a boomerang. Light watched as the weapon circled around, colliding with the enemies around its master. The figure moved forward again using his speed to slice and dice the Heartless like a hot knife through butter. The numbers were slowly diminishing, faster than Light and Dark combined, but it was only because of the nature of the weapons that the figure wielded, without that he would have had the same difficulty as the two of them. Light jumped forward and took out the rest of the Heartless that were coming their way now, and it was a bit easier since they were worn out from the other figure's attack.

The figure looked up slightly and noticed Dark and Light once the Heartless had drawn back from the current position, and disappeared further into the area. The figure froze for a moment noticing Dark quickly; his heart was racing, out of fear, and other emotions that seemed to flood his heart. '_It's really you…_' he thought walking forward. Light jumped in front of Dark and growled still holding on to his Heartless like form.

"( )… That's your name, right?" the figure asked, and Dark felt her eyes widen. '_I know that voice, I don't know why but I know that voice,_' she couldn't help but feel tears fall down from her eyes. She moved forward but the figure held out a hand to get her to stop. "I'm not even supposed to be talking to the two of you…" he stepped forward and soon he phased through the teen known as Light and placed his hood back up. Light reverted back to his human form, and felt something hit his heart, and he fell forward.

"What did you do, T-" she felt a hand cover her mouth.

"Keep quiet…" he ordered. "I'm going to be around… but only to help Ames, not for you or him, the two of you are doing well…" he looked back at Light. The figure held the keychains gingerly in his hand and showed them to Dark. "I'm taking these with me as well…"

Dark growled for a moment and ripped his hand away from her mouth. "What the hell are you doing?! Those are the forms of the Keyblade!" she said angrily trying to get it back from the figure, but it was to no avail, he moved a bit faster.

"Relax, I'm going to take care of them for him," the figure said looking down at Light, he was on the ground in a sort of sleeping state. "Anyway I can't tell you everything, but there are some _**others**_ like us who can carry Keyblades, and they won't be friendly… That's just my little welcoming advice, anyway I'll be seeing you around, little Ames look alike…" the figure said and walked off. Dark turned around quickly and watched as the figure disappeared into the shadows.

She dried the tears that had started to flow again, and shook her head. "It was nice seeing you again though… ( )." Dark looked in back of her and noticed the slightly bleak alleyway. Light was starting to pick himself up, and he sighed muttering something about his aching head.

"Hey…" Dark outstretched her hand towards Light. "Let's go home now…" she paused as Light asked her about the content of the card Nusvext had given them.

'The place the two of you should go to next is a place called Castle Oblivion. You'll find the answers you're searching for, the answers about those who you have lost. You'll find a way to get out of this world as well, or not. My suggestion is to take the train that passes by around 5 o'clock…'

"Castle Oblivion…" Light repeated softly to himself. He sighed and took Dark's hand, picking himself up from the slightly damp ground of the alleyway. Something was buzzing about in his head, but he just didn't know what it was at that point.

**Sora and Amaterasu**

Sora just sat in the grassy area starting up at the sky for a moment. He was thinking about his life back in the islands, all the friends he had left behind. He wasn't alone, but still he felt his heart ache again. The Keyblade's 'chosen one' knew that Amaterasu was probably feeling the same way as well. For a couple of '_days_' he could feel what her heart felt, and vice versa. The two elemental beings had explained that while they stayed in their fabricated world the chains in their hearts were slowly linking themselves with that of the other person.

Amaterasu knew of the events that happened in Castle Oblivion with greater detail, and he learned of her past life in Radiant Garden. Sora remembered the first time that the girl had shown him and the others a memory, it seemed rather distant, but now he was able to pick at the chains in his heart and scan her newly created chains for one or several memories. The two of them felt lost without their other friends, and Amaterasu felt upset at the fact her brother had left her behind. Yomigami, her oldest brother and now only sibling, was trying to start his life over again and he wanted his young sister to do the same.

"Project Blitz… Was it the same as that of SOLDIER?" Sora asked after his brief period of silence. Amaterasu focused back into reality and looked up at the blue eyed teen. She nodded slightly and she could sense that Sora felt remorse for her.

"Just don't feel bad for me," she said squinting slightly at the teen, just for comical relief. "But anyway, Blitz," she began to explain, "was going to be used as a system of protection in a way, utilizing the darkness to be infused with the body of a human. That's where Te- I mean Xehanort," Amaterasu rubbed the back of her head, "came in, as King Ansem sent his own research team to tackle the mysteries of the heart. Hojo and his team, the ones who were in charge of the project, had to find a way to keep a human from turning into a Heartless, and what better way then to take out the heart, and kill the Nobody created from it. That would render a person to hold half of their heart once the process was done…"

"Oh, okay…" Sora nodded, and he understood where she was going with the information she was giving him. He may not have seemed bright, but being in this fabricated world he felt as though he could understand. "It must have been hard, for you though."

"Being surrounded by family members, one doesn't feel like it's the end of the world, mind you. With Yomigami participating I didn't really feel like it was something bad. I mean I was probably around 14 or so, I knew the difference between right and wrong, and King Ansem assured the two of us that we would still be our natural physical self…" she sighed for a moment. "That's why I went along with it, I just wanted to participate in something I felt was right."

The two of them looked up at the sky for a moment trying to figure out what the others were doing on the other side. Nothing came to them, and they heaved a heavy sigh in annoyance and in frustration. The two elementals still didn't appear, it had been a while since Light and Dark had yet to return from their chat with the other entity that would guide the two of them back to the other side.

"Did, you ever meet your Nobody?" the teen asked looking back at his companion.

Amaterasu shook her head, and looked down at her feet, hugging her knees closer towards her body:  
"They kept her in a separate room away from the experiments. I tried meeting her once, but Hojo scowled me for doing such a 'reckless act' as he called it."

"Did your brother ever meet his?" he asked, and again he shook his head. "Quick question about your brothers and…?"

She cut him off and explained to him the pods that Grimoire Valentine and Hojo had created along with his research team. Once they had been banished from Radiant Garden they took several testing pods and slept within the 'End of the World'. It made much sense to him slightly, and that was all he needed to be familiar with for now, he didn't have any further questions for her at this point.

The two of them didn't converse for some time. Both of them were listening to the sound of their hearts, hearing the chains form slowly. The sound was slightly annoying to the dark skinned girl, just hearing a soft _clink_ when the chains would connect within her heart. Memories of her 'partner' as she was to call him now, played in her head. She saw him turn into a Heartless, she saw him battle Xehanort's Heartless, and it pained her slightly when Sora had to close the door of Kingdom Hearts leaving Riku and the King within the other side.

Sora closed his eyes hearing the chains _clink_ together as they formed and wrapped around his heart. He saw memories that were slightly hazy, she probably didn't remember the detail all that well. He watched her walk around the market place with some people he didn't know. The scene changed and he watched her walk towards a hospital bed to look at a figure with unusual brown hair and blue eyes. At one point Sora felt this terrible pain in his temple, it was from a memory of walking out of a room and down a flight of stairs. '_That's from the experiments…_' he thought to himself hearing another chain being created.

Amaterasu placed her hand on the cool grass from the fabricated world and tried to imagine the peaceful reign of King Ansem the Wise. '_Things were pleasant back then, no Heartless, no one worried about the darkness, it was peaceful. There were gardens all around the edges of the homes, and around the castle Hollow Bastion. People were laughing, there were smiling faces…_' she opened her eyes slightly and noticed that radiant crystals were falling from the sky. Sora looked up and smiled watching crystals fall throughout their fabricated land.

"Back home… There would be a crystal shower, that's how the world became known as Radiant Garden…" the girl said softly basking in the blissful memory.

"Tron showed us that once…" Sora said watching one lone crystal hover about in his hand. "After the defeat of the MCP." He said remembering the event slightly. "Aerith was the one who remembered the name."

The girl chuckled and looked down at the grass, she scanned the field for a moment and found a lone flower with crimson petals, and it reminded her of a scarf. '_Lightning…_' she thought and smiled, it as a slightly bitter memory. The Heartless had left her to pursue what her 'heart' believed was right. '_I wonder if you ended up obtaining your heart,_' she thought to herself and imagined the Heartless humanoid, she had light dirty blonde hair that seemed to become darker when in the shadows. Her hair had been styled to be cut in layers, with one side longer than the other. She had distinct blue eyes, very different from the other Heartless, along with a crimson scarf the girl had given her after naming the individual.

"When darkness touches their hearts, the day will draw near when the Darkness will appear. The light will fall at the magnitude of the Dark One and not even the hearts of the purest will cleanse this Dark Age. For the maidens shall fall at the power of the darkness in their hearts. That will be the day the Dark Master will appear, when the purest give in to darkness, all shall fear. To extinguish the fire the darkness and light must be pulled out from the Chosen One and fight against the Dark One, and all will be at peace." She murmured slightly, it was from a passage found within the library of Maleficent's castle.

Sora listened intently at the passage that fell from the lips of his companion, and reflected on the words for a moment. He sighed and looked at the area noticing that the shower of the crystals ceased, all was calm now. "Peace…" he said to himself taking in the meaning of the word. For some reason he had a feeling that he still had _more_ work to do. "You said so yourself, Amaterasu, that everything is created from light and darkness, one can't live without the other. It'd be a world thrown into chaos, right?"

"The elementals said that as well." She said reflecting back to a previous discussion. "We can't really be expected to understand the world, the heart, the whole universe. We're just two different individuals trying to get back home." Sora nodded.

"What's taking them so long?" he asked her. She shrugged and looked around trying to catch at least a glimpse of one flying orb.

**In another realm**

"I still have a bad feeling about this." Light said softly looking back at the other two entities in his view. The other two made a small noise of agreement, but nothing could be re-written, the world didn't work like that.

"_**Creator**_ has a plan for every single one of them," the voice said. "We are to do nothing until the time is right, when the Superior falls, you both are well aware of that." The two elemental beings made simple sounds of reassurance.

"Still one can't help but feel a bit saddened." Dark spoke softly as the orb noticed that several Heartless were moving about the void. "For these creatures, they follow their nature, and yet they don't know the power that they possess."

"It's better that way," the voice said. "Or else utter chaos would ensue."

A mist moved about in the separate realm, when it would lightly graze against the floor another Heartless would be created from the depths of darkness. In the opposite side of the realm light reigned supreme, but the darkness in the opposite side rivaled it. A balance must be created with light and darkness, because the heart is made of light and darkness, and the world.

"Light and darkness co-existing together…" the voice began to speak once more watching a lone Heartless traverse to the side of the light. "It'd bring about harmony if the two sides worked together."

"Someone has to push these two into the right path." Light said watching the Heartless wither in pain as it couldn't stand the bright side of the area.

"Or it's going to end up horrible for both sides…" the dark elemental orb said taking its more human form, ushering the lone Heartless back to its realm.

"The lingering spirit of the soldier…" the voice remembered that individual. "What role is that one playing?"

"… Him?" Light couldn't help but ask. "I think, wasn't he playing the Avenger?"

"That one…" Dark remembered now. "He still has work to do, seeing as how his master was corrupted by the darkness."

**A/N:** You know what to do, _**one**_ review please!

A special thank you to the good friends of Rozen! I personally would've given the previous chapter a 7 out of 10. I'm trying very hard to fill the plot holes, but it'll take some time with summer ending soon for me, I start school in August soon.  
**Xejicka:** Even though your review was in the form of a PM, thanks a bunch!  
**Sonic13:** You're on a roll, you've been able to guess them all correctly. Good luck with your chapters!

**A/N: **There is a question I want to ask my readers and reviewers alike, and here it is. We all know that Kingdom Hearts was broken into three parts, the first part, then Chain of Memories, and then part two. I don't know if I should follow in the same format, since this part is equivalent to that of Chain of Memories. Should I combine the two (I've already made some plans) or write the continuation in its own individual page?


	8. VIII Você chama esta uma promessa

**A/N:** Thank you very much to my readers and reviewers!

**Xejicka:** Again I feel very honored that you used Ammi in your story, she wants to know if she can get paid... Anyway the 'fruit' thing is a little inside joke to all the other readers out there, if you don't get it right away.

I'm running out of ideas you guys... and it's only on chapter 8!

Anyway... On with the story!

**Chapter 8: Você chama esta uma promessa **(you call this a promise)

The _Chilly Academic_ mused over the fact of the reactions on the two individuals before him. Nusvext seemed to finally calm down and tried his best not to look in the direction of the experiment that the older member had created all on his own. The experiment walked around taking in all the things that he saw and paused for a moment at the screen that was before his eyes. There were two figures walking down a deserted alleyway, and they made their way through the slightly chaotic part of the neon lit city. Heartless were starting to run about taking the hearts of the people within the area, and the screen captured the moments of the two individuals. '_This must be the people that Shimasax was talking about_,' he thought.

The experiment remembered a story that the Chilly Academic had spoke of in regards to his 'creation' so to speak. The experiment preferred to be called a human rather than an 'experiment' or 'it', or his favorite word, 'it'. He watched the two individuals walk away with cuts and bruises on the computer screen trying to understand why they held such high priority.

* * *

**Flashback**  
"It's a success!" the man cried out happily watching a human emerge from a rather large test tube. The figure looked around, and felt the air quickly wrap around him. '… Cold,' was the first thing the figure could think of wrapping his arms around himself.

Shimasax had clothing prepared for the experiment and hastily put on the articles of fabric, to decrease the cold feeling his naked body felt.

He had heard Shimasax converse of the past, and as he placed his clothing on his body he listened intently at the scientist's tale…

"She's been worried about you…" the older man by the name of Shimasax said, noticing the teen excused himself from the area, and with that he started walking away.

"Like I said…" he looked at the green eyed man. "You're wasting my time…" with that the brown hared teen walked away, raising his hood now, he seemed fed up with the 'Chilly Academic'.

"You don't care about her?!" he couldn't believe how much the teen had changed in such a short amount of time. "You don't care about Ames then either, do you?!"

"Shut up." The figure said coldly, turning his neck to get a good view of the older blonde. "You're wasting my time_ **and**_ yours by just talking to me, I don't care about that person, whoever you're talking about, or this 'Ames' person. Just leave me the hell alone!"

"Then…" Shimasax sighed and tried to control himself. "Why are you wearing the designated coat of our organization? Only members wear it."

"Would you leave me alone if I said I found it?"

"Stop acting stupid, Rax!" Shimasax was losing his patience with the boy in front of him. "Don't you_ **ever**_ call me that!" the teen shouted in outrage, he didn't care for the people who were trying to continue on with their daily lives. With that the teen walked away, and Shimasax asked the waitress if he could have a cup of decaffeinated coffee._

* * *

_

The experiment snapped out of the daze and noticed the girl that was helping her friend run across the screen. Again the panel was all on them, this was their play, and yet they didn't know they were being watched. He sighed for a moment and looked back at the others, these people dressed in black coats.

"We need to see which one can qualify to be the _**key**_, these two…" Shimasax pointed to the screen, the figures had stopped moving and the screen turned black for a moment, the camera zoomed on the two figure's faces. "Or Rax…" he said looking back at his creation for a moment.

"…" Nusvext stayed silent, placing a finger on his chin, trying to think for a moment, he was probably trying to find ways to ignore the _Chilly Academic_.

"Hmph," Xejicka made a sound of indifference towards the whole thing. Shimasax expected that type of behavior from the one who controls flames.

Within the _Chilly Academic_'s mind he was laughing up a storm, he believed he had them right where he wanted them. '_If he is more qualified to be the __**key**__, then the Underground members will finally gain the upper hand, and we can knock the stuffing out the Aboveground members._' His thoughts played with the vision before him, watching the laughing faces of those who were aboveground. In the depths of his mind he saw the ones belowground with comical looking tears run down their face, and in the back ground flames that seemed to rise out of nowhere. '_They call us "Underground members" like if we're losers or something!_'

Shimasax was too wrapped up in his little fairy tale story to notice he was laughing. The sounds that came after word could only be described as someone taking off the record from the record player. Rather to best describe it, to Shimasax it was like someone clawing a chalkboard, with it's long _schreeeeeech!_

"Now, let _**me**_ set one thing straight-"

'_What does that replica think it's doing?!_' that was the first thing running through the older blonde hared male.

"I'm _**better**_ than Rax." The experiment said. He wanted to make his voice known throughout the members before him.

Shimasax's green eyes looked back at the experiment with some shock, or horror, it was one of those facial expressions. The other two members, the younger blonde hared male, and the hazel eyes teen looked back at one another with confused faces.

"Hey!" Shimasax began to scold the experiment. "I told you the plan, didn't I make it clear. Don't embarrass me!" the replica only looked back at the scientist with little concern.

The experiment sighed in annoyance and glaced slightly at the crowd before him. "I may be Rax's replica, but don't expect us to act the same." He was rather formal in his explanation, which meant that he was trying to act different from the real Rax. "I really have no purpose of trying to be like some wimp who can't even deal with the darkness inside of him."

It finally dawned on the other two that this wasn't the member that they had come to know as 'Rax' but rather a replica. Nusvext looked at the replica with slight interest now and smirked for a moment. It sent chills down the man known as the _Chilly Academic_ to see the _Savage Fighter_ act like that.

"…" Nusvext remained silent for a while. "Wait, don't tell me…" he couldn't hold in his laughter.

"Hey hold up there Shimasax…" Xejicka began to speak, but laughter was breaking off her words. "You couldn't get the real Rax to come back, so you made a replica?"

The older man's face became as hard as stone, trying hard not to let the words break his spirit.

"Please tell me this is some kind of joke." Nusvext said shedding a tear from the laughter. As he spoke again he let out a burst of laughter. "You're such a crackpot!" Xejicka shook her head and laughed.

"HEY!" Shimasax began to flail his arms up and down in an angry protest. "Shut up!" he asserted himself once more to try and finish his explanation. He used his arms to point back to the replica that was off to the side, and never broke contact with Xejicka or Nusvext. "Creating a duplication of him was my plan all along! Just take a look, this is a work of art!" the replica just looked away.

"Whatever Shimasax, a fake is still a fake!" Nusvext still cracked up with laughter, and the replica glared at the younger male.

"Hey, you." The replica could only address the male as 'you' being that it knew nothing of their names. Nusvext stopped laughing, and dropped his hands to the side. "I'm no sham. I'll admit I look like him, but get this, _**I**_ have my own soul. Though, that's more than I can say for you, _**fruity man**_."

Shimasax and Xejicka looked at one another, and then back to the replica, in shock. The look on Nusvext wasn't pleasing at all. In the mind of young teenage blonde the words 'fruity man' echoed loudly and all the _Savage Fighter_ did was just give a big smile. To Xejicka the smile seemed forced, which made it all the more deadly in her mind, and no doubt that the replica was going to get scolded by the _Savage Fighter_.

"I like your spunk…" he tried not to snap just yet. "…little prick."

"Ouch!" the replica felt something quickly pull him by the arm, feeling it twist a little, someone was pushing him forward, and his arm was beginning to feel uncomfortable. With that the two males walked out of the computer room, leaving Xejicka in a rather confused state just staring at the empty space. Shimasax was screaming his head off down the corridor and past the doorway.

Ames was titling her white chair back, to and fro, trying to think of a couple of things to draw from her own memory. She didn't have the 'soul' of an artist so to speak, being that first of all she knew not what the 'soul' was. Anyway, she just sat there with sketch paper from her new notebook sprawled about the long white table, with the flowers in the middle of the white long counter. She heard voices in the background, and listened in on them. '_That's Nus… And…_' she listened to another voice yelling. '_Hey that's old man Shimasax!_' the silver hared teen thought pondering what this all meant.

"Where are you taking me?!" Ames sat up in her chair at the new voice. It sounded so oddly familiar, but for some reason she knew it wasn't the person she was expecting. '_Is this the one from earlier?_' she thought and looked down at the white clean sheets of paper, nothing had come to her mind.

"Hey take it easy you twit! He hasn't been fully educated yet!" that as Shimasax's voice, it held a tone of anger and worriment, something that Ames found rather hard to believe, considering his title as the _Chilly Academic_. "Stop! He hasn't been completely cultured yet!"

"Ya should've taught him some manners!" Ames imagined Nusvext with smoke coming out of his nose, or ears, he seemed really mad. She heard the unnamed figure protest, he had said his arm hurt. "Stop your whining!" Nusvext commanded the unnamed figure.

Ames took a small drawing object in her hand, and placed in her left hand, but with an improper way of holding such an object. Someone she knew mimicked the same style, or rather it's better said Ames mimicked that person's style. The slightly dark skinned girl, in the plain black gown, began to draw, and she paused for a moment. The voices were starting to act up again.

"If you want to bring Rax into play to test their strength…" she heard Nusvext in a loud voice, and the door to the white room burst open. The girl jumped in her seat, and stared at the menacing eyes of the _Savage Fighter_. Ames began to feel her body tremble slightly, she had a bad premonition about what was going to happen. Nusvext pushed the new figure roughly onto the table, scattering papers and pencils about the floor and table. Ames closed her eyes and looked away.

Nusvext spoke once more:  
"You've got to take _**this**_, and make this little replica's heart just like the real one's heart." Ames heard the sound of a pair of pencils crack, that's when she finally opened her eyes.

There before her own light blue eyes was a figure dressed in a black colored suit that went up to his neck, and on his chest was a familiar Heartless insignia outlined in red. On his arms blue streaks wrapped around the lower part of his arm, and on his hands he wore black gloves. There was a dark crimson belt around his waist that had red and black tattered fabric along the outer edges. He wore black and navy blue fabricated boots.

The figure tried to move away, but Nusvext brought a forceful hand down on the brown hared figure's skull, and buried his face into the white table. Ames flinched in her seat, she didn't dare try and speak out of line. The replica, before her eyes, turned his gaze towards Nusvext and asked:  
"How can you?"

To which Number 12 responded to with a twisted smile. Ames and Shimasax noted that in the other hand the _Savage Fighter_ held a sharp kunai, brimming with electricity. The silver hared girl knew that she would have to put a stop to it.

"I'm going to give you some _**wonderful**_ memories…" Nusvext said in a strange, yet happy tone, bringing his favored weapon close to the replica's neck. The replica froze, a sweat drop slowly falling down the side of his cheek, he was feeling fear for the first time.

"That's enough!" Ames said pounding her fists on to the table. "What right do you have for barging into _**my**_ room?!" she said picking up her pencil menacingly. Nusvext lightly placed the tip of his weapon on the teen's vital spot, somewhere near the neck. If Ames didn't do her little outburst, the replica most likely would've met death all too quickly. "Now leave, if you want me to do _**my**_ work!" she said growling for a moment.

"Fine…" Nusvext slammed the replica against the table once more, making sure that he felt pain and confusion, with fear. "But… just remember, our actions aren't unique at all, this has happened more than once."

"Hey…" Shimasax finally spoke as Nusvext had finally left the room. "Be careful, he's my successful experiment." With that number 4 left the white room.

Ames sighed and watched the 'successful experiment' rise to his feet, confused and rubbing his arm for a moment. Another wave of pain entered the side of his head and he rubbed the side of his cranium slightly. She asked him a simple question, and he didn't answer for a moment, and again she asked, yet he still didn't respond.

'_This feeling…_' he thought to himself for a moment, staring back at her light blue eyes for a moment. He noticed that she had brown skin, and silver hair, with a plain black gown. A feeling he never knew existed, this was what people would refer to as being 'nervous'. Ames noticed the pale crimson blush stain his cheeks and he looked away feeling embarrassed. The teenage girl laughed for a moment, and remembered that this had happened at one point, back when things seemed so much simpler.

"I guess…" she finally spoke out holding her pencil in a distinctive way, "we should start now."

"Is it…" he picked out his words carefully. "Is it going to hurt?"

"No," she shook her head and gently walked him towards another white chair, across the white tiles of the room. He stared down at the drawings, a teen with brown spiky hair, another one with silver hair, and another girl with red wine colored hair. "sit here…" she said as softly as she could, and he obeyed. "First of all, do you have a name?" she asked, to which he shook his head.

"I'd like one though." The replica said nodding his head. She took notice in his strange styled hair and smiled kindly at him.

"All right then, do you have one in mind?" she asked. For a moment he thought that her tone had shifted slightly.

"a…" he pronounced the word rather timidly. Ames asked him to speak up. "Ab… A-Abedo!" he said.

"Abedo…" she repeated, to the replica it sounded so much nicer when she pronounced the word. "Does it have a meaning?"

"It means 'those that once were'," the replica said softly. "What's your name?"

"Ames…" she said patting the replica on the shoulder for a moment. "It's a boy's name to be honest…" she sighed heavily. "It means 'friend' in French, and it's close to the Latin word for 'love'." Ames began to frown for a moment.

"I don't think it sounds boyish at all." The replica, who would soon be called 'Abedo', said.

"You're the second person to say that, thank you." She said meaning every word of it. "Now, just close your eyes and count backwards from 10, okay?" he nodded.

"This won't hurt right?"

"I promise, it won't hurt…" she said trying to calm him down for a moment. "Relax your breathing, please Abedo." Ames placed another hand on his shoulder. "Come on, stop making this harder for me."

"I'm sorry!" he said opening his eyes. "This is weird!" Abedo jumped out of the chair. "What are you going to do to me anyway?!"

"… I can' tell you," she said placing a finger of her lips. "It's a secret. Now sit down and let me do _**my**_ work! Or I'm bringing the blonde back." She warned him.

**Amber Pacific**

Mr. Brooks sighed and watched as the two teen walked back inside the house, with cuts and swellings on their arms and legs. He shook his head, and ran his time stained fingers through the aged color of his grey hair. Light seemed upset for some reason, and Dark tried to avoid meeting her gaze back to the young boy. The old man of this elegant abode stood up and ushered the two to walk further inside and he closed the door behind them.

"The two of you are coming back worse and worse," Mr. Brooks said watching the two teens stagger on ahead. Light sat in a comfortable sofa, and Dark placed herself on the ground, leaning against the wall of the living room. The old man knew something didn't seem right. "What happened you two?" he asked walking over towards Dark, patting her head for a moment.

"Dark let some stupid guy take the rest of my key chains…" Light mumbled.

"It wasn't my fault!" Dark rebutted angrily, taking some offence to that. "He just passed through Light like if he had… I mean like a…"

"Like a ghost?" the old man asked, and Dark and Light nodded.

"I guess it's not your fault…" the teenage boy said looking back at the two figures before him, Dark didn't seem that pleased, but she accepted his way of apologizing.

Dark and Light both explained their sides of the story of what had happened to them, resulting in to the discussion of a teen by the name of Nusvext. Mr. Brooks nodded attentively not once failing to catch their words. They spoke with clarity of the event, and seemed a bit troubled by what would soon happen next.

"Oh, I just remembered something," the old man said and the two individual's looked up at him. "Ven and Aqua were looking for you today."

"Yeah?" the other two asked in unison. "Did Terra come by as well?" Dark asked.

"Ah…" the old man with the time faded boots shook his head. "That's why those two came, Terra's on vacation."

"He left without saying goodbye?" the two asked, feeling a bit disappointed.

"What were you saying about the train station?" Mr. Brooks tried to get them back to the topic at hand.

"We wanted to know…" Dark began to speak.

"If you could take us to the train station, we…"

"Have to catch the train that leaves at 5 o'clock." Dark finished the sentence for her friend Light. The old man asked whether it was in the morning or in the afternoon, and the teens looked at one another with some confusion etched on their faces. Dark pulled out the card that was tucked away into the rear pocket of her pair of jeans and looked at it, hastily reading towards the end of the little hint.

"It's… in the morning…" Light said, knowing that's what his partner was thinking.

"Then get an early head start, bathe and get ready…" their caretaker said in a very tired tone. "We have to get up bright and early tomorrow."

**In Castle Oblivion**

Abedo had fallen asleep in one corner of the white room. His sleep was caused by the side effect of the manipulation that Ames had done. She was skillful in that art, and still she didn't feel like that's what made her who she is, what defined her as an individual. '_That's what we long for… To be somebody…_' she thought gently stroking the replica's hair. He murmured something, and Ames couldn't help but smile.

"He's just like a child…" she said to herself, lost in thought, looking beyond the glass window of the castle. Rays of light were starting to come out, but soon thicker and darker clouds would strangle the sun light. At least she caught a glimpse of the morning sun, and that was good enough for her.

Slowly the replica opened his eyes, and he scanned the white room before him. His blue eyes stuck out like a sore thumb among the pale colors of the wall and floor. Ames was drawing away and he smiled feeling peace wash over him. '_She's very kind…_' he thought remembering a time when she had helped him. Memories soon came flooding back to him, and he felt as though he shared a connection with her. Her blue eyes met his, and for a second there Abedo saw a heartbreaking look etched into her eyes.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked him softly, and he nodded.

"Something bothering you, Ames?" he asked, as if he had known her all of his life.

"No…" she shook her head and went back to the sheet of paper. "Why do you say that?"

Abedo remained silent and looked down at the white tiles that decorated the floor of the room. He scanned the floor for an answer to her question, but all he saw were pictures of himself and of people he did not know.

"I just… I just felt like there was something wrong." He said, he knew he was being honest.

"What is _**wrong**_ is that you slept here the whole night." She said pointing to him with her pencil; he noticed it was in her right hand for now. "What are people going to say when they see you step out of _**my**_ room? Huh?" the silver hared teen wagged her pencil in his direction.

"Sorry…" he said softly and looked down at his lap. "I didn't think I'd knock out in your room."

"I suppose it's not really your fault, Shimasax has been working you very hard." Ames noted within the frame of her mind, a false memory planted within the chains of Abedo's heart.

"What are we doing today?" he asked feeling energetic now. He jumped off the man made bed and looked back at her.

"…" she yawned and stretched for a moment. "We've got visitors…" she said pointing at the little sphere in the far off corner. "They arrived around 6 o'clock in the morning."

"What time is it right now?" the replica asked.

**In one of the lower basements**

The enigmatic figure had followed two people discreetly from the train station, using his own knowledge, and roamed around the hallways aimlessly, getting lost in the feeling of nostalgia. '_What if I see those two…?_' the figure thought to themselves over and over again, replaying a rather bitter scenario, and he didn't like the out come of it all. '_Maybe I should've just stayed…_' he thought to himself and walked around the hallway of one of the basement levels.

"I know the two of you are here…" he said to himself softly and stepped out of the fabricated area, "but… I can't let anyone get in our way…" he said to himself. '_Phasing through that kid… It's going to mess up his memories too, damn it I should've thought that one through!_'

'Rax' as the figure was sometimes called ran through the area and looked about trying to remember his way around the stronghold he once called his home. Nothing seemed to change at all, and in a way he was glad, he didn't like change very much. This was something he had grown accustom to, and he was glad nothing was distorted. '_There's no point in crying over spilled milk…_' he thought to himself, reflecting back with his encounter with the one called 'Light'. '_Ames can fix him for me…_' Rax thought about it for a moment and sighed.

"I'm just giving her more work to do…" he said miserably and trudged forward. Rax stopped halfway through the hallway and looked up, if the place was still the same, then the security cameras would still be in their designated areas as well. He swiftly ran up one of the white pillars and ripped the piece of machinery from its safe place, watching the wires attached to it rip, their copper insides creating sparks once in a while.

"_You really plan on doing this?"_ it wasn't _**her**_ voice but another's. It was one that made him feel indifferent.

"I promised the two of them that I would…" he said discarding the camera harshly on the floor. "I intend to keep that promise."

"_The younger one is a bit preoccupied, you should've figured that one out yourself. If your past actions are already written in the skies… Then,"_ the voice chuckled, _"you know what will happen to her in the events to come."_

Rax ignored the voice that seemed to try and talk him out of his little 'quest' but right now nothing could stop him. He had a promise to keep to two individuals. '_I can worry about Light and Dark later,_' he thought as he started walking down the hallway once more. If his assumption was right, and the pat was repeating itself once more, then he knew he could trust Ames to take care of Light and Dark for him.

**One of the top floors**

"Light…?" Dark called out to him worriedly, he had stopped moving and looked up at the ceiling.

The teen was wrapped up in a hazy memory, one he knew wasn't his own, but of someone else. The setting to him seemed a bit sad, but yet he could feel as though hope was starting to sprout from that event, but why? There were two faces that he saw, and for a moment he thought he knew one of the unnamed faces…

* * *

**Flashback**  
"What… what are you doing?" a girl in a plain black gown asked. She leaned her head over towards the figure in front. "You going somewhere?" the figure nodded in response. "It's not a mission… is it?" somehow she knew he was going to lie.

"I'll be back soon, all right?" he said, trying to sound a bit cheerful.

The girl sighed for a moment and sat back down in her white chair. She took off something that hung around her neck, and she placed it gently into his hands. "I want you to take care of it for me, all right?"

The figure nodded. "This… is this the one you found in the dark corridor?" he asked curiously. She nodded and gave him her trademark smile. "She's going to want this back…"

"I know, but promise me you'll bring it back, all right?"

"It's a promise Ames." He said smiling.

"Yeah well, where do you think you're going?!"

The two of them looked at the entrance of the white room and found their noise maker. Xejicka had been eavesdropping on them the whole time. She walked over to the two of them, and hugged both of them with both arms. The figure was moving his arms up and down, he couldn't breathe.

"Rax you idiot, why are you leaving?" Xejicka asked him sternly.

"I… I want to find myself." He said flatly, pouting for a moment.

"It's okay Xejicka, he promised he'll come back, right?" Ames asked looking at him.

He nodded and Xejicka sighed, she couldn't really stop him at all, but at least she could try.

"I'll keep in touch with you guys, even if I'm not around physically." He failed to notice that Xejicka was getting ready to noogie him. "N-"

Ames chuckled softly watching her friend getting noogied. Rax tried to jump out of the way, but Xejicka caught him in the air. He laughed, and finally pushed himself away from Xejicka.

"Can I go now?" he asked.

"No…" the other two girls said.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Nice try," the two girls said.

"I never told you **_when_** I was going to leave, did I?"

"Sorry, Dark," he said trying to play it cool, but she couldn't be fooled. He sighed and looked around trying to think of an excuse for it all, yet he found none as the minutes seemed to pass by. "I had a memory," he said after minutes of silence.

"About?" she seemed interested now.

"A guy I never knew…" he said rubbing the back of his head. "His name's 'Rax' I guess, but I got the feeling that's only part of his name."

"Huh… Well come on, maybe we can get some answers." She pulled him along towards the end of the hallway. "This is place is so… white…" Dark said looking around the walls and ceilings. "I'd go blind in seconds!" she said exaggerating, to which Light rolled his eyes to.

"It's not going to be easy… to get the answers," Light said realizing for a moment.

"Going through several worlds…" she sighed, recounting places with treetops, and a queen with a strange trial, to a place where they could change into mer-people. This place was strange, it was chaotic, and it gave a sense of void. No doubt they gave this place the title of Castle Oblivion.

Footsteps echoed through the hallway as they walked through a clear area. There was no doorway for several miles, just an end of white pillars, and white flowers, with a long white ceiling. Dark ran plans through her mind, but nothing could give her any clues as to why this seemed familiar, even though she had never set foot within the castle. Light walked right beside her trying to figure out what the memory meant, or rather why is was triggered. He knew for a fact that it belonged to the figure known as 'Rax', which he deduced must have been the figure that went through him.

Something ran through Dark's mind that made her stop suddenly. Light looked in back of her and sighed, wondering why on earth she stopped. Dark looked down at her feet, and pretended to kick an imaginary rock. Light knew that something popped into her head and he felt a bit annoyed, she liked keeping things to herself, despite that they knew each other for quite some time now. Dark looked back up at him and opened her mouth:

"Do… do you remember the promise you made to me?" she asked him softly, and she felt embarrassed.

"Sort of," he said feeling a bit of remorse, and the two of them sighed. Their memories were worse now, things seemed to be out of order now, or things were erased completely. To the two of them they thought that memories could be erased completely, but that's not true as one past Keyblade wielder had demonstrated about two years ago.

**In the white room**

Ames had bid a small farewell to the individual by the name of Abedo, but that was several hours ago. She didn't see any type of movement within her sector of the area, which meant that either the two teens known as Light and Dark had already cleared it, or they had yet to reach that part of the castle. She sighed and walked about in her white room, she wasn't allowed to leave the room without Xauqa's permission, and she hadn't seen number 11 in quite some time, not since the girl in the plain black gown had sneaked into Amber Pacific.

"I was trying to find you…" she said softly to herself. She seemed saddened by the fact that she couldn't see the face of the one this was addressed to.

Abedo was a kind companion, despite the face she only knew him for about half a day, but with the newly fabricated memories stored within the new chains of his heart, she felt as though she knew him for a long time. '_Just like Rax,_' she thought, and sighed heavily. His name stirred up strange conflictions in her heart, of sadness and regret, but she didn't know why the latter part struck her so much. '_Regret…_' the young teen thought sadly and looked up at the white ceiling.

White it was the color on a prism when all the colors gathered together. To put it more specifically, or rather scientifically, white is the combination of all the colors of the visible light spectrum. It had taken her a while to understand why, since when in art the combination of colors produce the color black, or something of a darker shade. Science and art at that point to her seemed very different. Every time she looked up at the ceiling she saw nothing but a void, the nothingness of this castle.

Ames had memories of a castle with a garden that seemed to be radiant in its nature. These weren't her own memories, mind you, but ones of her past life, if one could say that. She had made memories of her own in that place, but not like her past life, where there was laughter, no sense of being alone, and _**him**_. He looked and acted like Rax, but she knew that it was the other way around. She looked away and heard someone near the doorway humming something, and soon broke out into a small song.

"Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars…" that was Xejicka's voice trailing off in the corridors near the white room. Ames smiled and had several recolections to when Rax had taught them the song. Of course the original song was sung by a man, by the name of Frank Sinatra. Rax had provided some history of the songs, and Ames knew them perfectly, originally the song was sung for a show that was being broadcasted on television a while ago.

Rax played for the two of them songs on the piano, but now the huge ensemble of ivory keys and chords just sat in his room collecting dust. Ames kept it clean or at least tried to, but it pained her each time she walked into the room. Xejicka would stand outside waiting for her to come back. To the young teen with the strange crest on the right side of her cheek, she bit her lip to keep from giving a small outburst. She missed number 13 with all her heart. Her _**soul**_ would yell out in anguish, it wasn't fair to either of them that he left.

'_But you promised you'd come back…_' that was the only thing probably keeping them from leaving. Still, if Ames remembered her history prior to this, she knew that it was most likely not going to be true for the one called the Flurry of the Dancing Flames. '_But I want to make it so…_' Ames thought crumpling a piece of paper and throwing it across the room.

"Wait no!" she covered her face for a moment. "That was a good drawing!" she _eeked_ and scrambled towards the crumpled paper, and frowned at the sight. "I'm not good at reproducing!" she yelled at herself.

"Someone was daydreaming again?" Xejicka's voice appeared out of nowhere.

"No!"

"How many drawings does this make Ames, ten?" the chakram wielder's voice trailed off once more.

**With Sora and Amaterasu**

"So that's what they were talking about," Sora had clued his companion in of the previous '_night_'. The discussion of what would occur as far as Light and Dark were concerned about. The girl and the boy tried to understand what the two elemental beings had conversed about.

"I think," she murmured to herself, "that it's best that we learn of the past first, before asking questions of the future." Sora stopped walking about, and he heard her last phrase and nodded in agreement.

"If you don't know the past, you can't move forward in time," the Keyblade bearer said. He spotted black and blue butterflies; they seemed to flutter about in their fabricated sky without a care in the world, and he envied them for a moment.

"Why?" Amaterasu couldn't help but ask.

"It's easy." Sora looked back at her, he felt confident about it. "So you won't repeat mistakes," he paused and looked up at the white fluffy clouds that moved across the pale blue sky, "I want to know the past of the Keybearers before me."

"I'd never expect that coming out of your mouth," the brown skinned girl couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What do you mean?!" Sora stopped pacing about. "I'm serious about this!" he got the young teen to cease her laughter. "Their past…" he summoned the Keyblade.

"It's chosen countless," she said looking at the true form of the Keyblade.

"At one point, it brought chaos," Sora aid dimly. "You think you're saving people by defeating the Heartless, but at the same time you're creating a very powerful source that the Nobodies of Heartless can use."

"Sora…" it pained her heart to see him doubt himself. "You have to be strong," she warned him, "or someone is, without a doubt, going to try and take that fancy blade of yours."

He grinned, the last words reminded him of a certain pirate. "You sounded like Capitan Jack Sparrow." At least he didn't sound so melancholy now.

"Him?" she asked and laughed. "I guess so…" she sighed and looked up at the sky for a while. "Hey Sora…?"

"…" he sat next to her now, feeling the soft blades of grass brush up against his bare ankles.

"Promise me something," she said looking back at the teen whose name meant 'sky'. He nodded and asked her to continue. "That you'll be strong." Amaterasu was being serious about this, and Sora with his new ability could feel her emotions enter his heart for a second or two.

"It's a promise." He said smiling. "But you've got to promise me something too."

"All right, what is it?" she asked.

Sora sighed for a moment trying to find the right words. "Don't laugh though…" he warned her. She found it comical when he would pout like that. "Promise me that you'll be strong for the two of us, if I can't be."

"You're trusting an almost complete stranger with this?" she couldn't help but make her little outburst.

"Technically, you're my best friend's girlfriend, so that makes you not so much a stranger…" he said placing his hands in back of his head. "And besides, that's what partners do, right? They're strong for one another when the other can't be."

"Friends do that… but you make a good point." Amaterasu said gazing at a single blade of grass. "All right then it's a promise."

"Now we just have to figure out a way home…" Sora said flatly staring into the infinite void of their fabricated creation.

Something _chirped _in the distance, and Amaterasu couldn't hold in her laughter. Sora heard another _chirp_ and he realized what insect made that sound. He turned to face Amaterasu, and she paused hearing something buzz dangerously close to her ear.

"Sora…" her voice cracked.

"YOU get rid of the crickets first."

"Not until you get rid of this bee! I hate…!"

"Crickets!" he knew she disliked bees with a passion, just as he did with the crickets.

"_Are you two really that bored?"_

**In Castle Oblivion**

There were no dates to bring back her memory, no places she could vividly describe in her mind, but she knew that she had made a promise to Ames. She just didn't know what it was. This place had a strange garden about it, with a castle towering over. Dark didn't know this place, but it was there in her mind, and Ames was there too. '_Ames look a like…_' she thought to herself, repeating the words that 'Rax' had said a day ago.

The memory she knew was of her and Ames, they seemed to be talking about something, but she couldn't make out the words, there was static, like someone else was trying to tune in. Dark knew that it was Light, eavesdropping into the flashback, but she didn't mind, he wanted to know as well…

* * *

**Flashback  
**"Can you please give it to him?" Ames asked kindly. Dark looked up from the book she was reading and stared at the strange pendant in her hand. "Come on, Dark, please!" she begged her.

"What makes you think I'm saying no…" she said taking the pendant out of her grasp. "But… why?"

"He's going to need all the help he can get," Ames said messing up Dark's hair. "Promise me you'll give it to him, okay?"

"All right," she nodded and went back to her book for a moment. "Hey Ames…" blue eyes met up with Dark. "I'm going to take care of you and him when this is over, okay?"

"It's a promise…" Ames said happily and tackled Dark into a hug. "But don't go back on your word, okay?"

"I won't…" she said trying to sit up.  
_

* * *

_

"That's the promise you made to her…" he said looking at the pendant for a moment. "It was the day you came to visit." He said sadly and remembered that day slightly.

"Anyway, now that we know she's here we can go and save her, and get our answers, AND hopefully get our memories back!"

Light looked at her questioningly and shook his head. "What do you mean, hopefully?"

"What that one girl said, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find… or something like that."

**In the White Room**

"Oh man… where did Abedo go?!" she scanned the surface of the sphere and she couldn't find her desired target. "Bad, very bad!" she made a small whimpering sound and shook her head. "He'll pop up soon, he has to," she said to herself wishing for it to be true.

She kept an eye on Dark and Light and sighed for a moment, knowing that once they set foot into the castle, their false memories would awaken. '_This is going to be a long day…_' she thought to herself. '_Where the heck is the comic relief when you need it?_' she thought to herself.

"_Ames…"_

"Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you, Abedo?!" she growled.

"_Who the heck is Abedo?! Don't tell me you've given up on me already?!"_

"T--… Rax!? Rax! You idiot what are you doing in here?!"

"_I promised that I'd come back… You don't want me--"_

"No, no!" she said her hands running through her silver hair, she tugged some strands, poor thing was stressing out now. "Of course I wanted you to come back, more than anything, but…"

"_But…?"_

"You and the replica have the same voice…" she muffled her voice.

"_Replica…?"_

This indeed was going to be a very, very, long day, and the little girl in the plain black gown knew it.

**A/N:** You know what to do _**one**_ review please!


	9. IX

**A/N:** Thank you very much to my readers, and reviewers as well!

**Rozen-senpai:** Holy Moogles! You're alive?! I'm just kidding! laughs Anyway thank you very much Rozen, and sorry about the 'bold' text when labeling the flashbacks, I didn't want to abuse the italics to much. I've got ideas about the Compass of Chaos and Order, it was mentioned once in the old story, remember when Maleficent told her not to touch the compass? Don't worry it'll be mentioned soon.

**Xejicka: **We've got more chapters where that came from buddy… I'm glad you liked the fruit joke, I knew you'd laugh. Hey wait Xigbar called him a dud, when was that? Oh that Alex/Axel guy might make an appearance in the chapter, _might_ being the keyword.

**Ezra Diskence**: Thank you very much Ezra. I'm glad my characters are Sue-safe I was worried! Anyway I'm trying very hard to fill the plot holes, as I know there's still many questions left unanswered, but that's what a sequel is for right?

And with that… On with the story!

**Chapter 9: Proditor** (Traitor)

Abedo wandered the halls of Castle Oblivion, he had to go and seek out these two people by the name of Light and Dark, but something was calling him down to the basement portion of the castle, and it was beginning to displease him quite a bit for now. He reached the source of it all, and looked through the vast white hallway coming across a figure dressed in black, he couldn't make out the figures face, but it mattered not to him.

"I take it…" the figure sounded so much like him, "you're Abedo."

Abedo placed one hand in back of him and the figure watched his motions with little regard. In Abedo's hand was a blade that he called from memory 'Soul Eater'. There were previous reincarnations of the blade, and this was probably, and hopefully going to be its last, but one can't look too far into the future.

The figure noted the strange way his hair was styled in, and smiled underneath his hood. '_So that's what I look like…_' he thought. It was like looking in a mirror, who ever created the replica got everything down perfectly. '_Old man, you did a spectacular job!_'

"You're the replica she spoke of then…" the figure said lowering his hood down, and noticed that Abedo's eyes widened. "What…?" he smirked.

"You're…" he growled for a moment and looked back at the little pendant hanging on the side of his belt.

"Let me guess quickly, you're here to protect Ames and Jackie, right?" the figure asked his replica quickly.

"Don't tell me you to?" the replica asked eyeing him cautiously.

"Yep… I'm the original." He said pointing a thumb to his chest. "And if you're like me, you've got no soul…"

"No!" the replica yelled brandishing his weapon. "Listen stop trying to tell me lies!"

"I'm stating the truth…" Rax sighed. This replica was going to be stubborn, it really did believe that it had a soul after all. He pulled out a strange looking weapon, one that Abedo, the replica, had never seen before. On his neck he slowly took off the broken pendant and placed it in front of the replica. "We've got the same pendant here. No doubt yours is a dud."

"Listen, I'm protecting Ames…" the replica was losing his patient, and he didn't give a rat's behind if he was a fake. Truth be told he finally had some happy memories, and he wasn't going to let this guy ruin his good time. "She doesn't even want to look at your face."

Rax placed a hand on his face, and just moaned in annoyance. He had his personality all right, and he didn't like it. '_I can't believe I'm arguing with myself…_' He placed the necklace back where it belonged and moved forward. Rax noticed that the replica had a somewhat familiar suit placed on him. '_All he's missing is the helmet…_' he thought and pointed his Keyblade towards the figure.

"Fine then…" Rax said. "If you want to protect the two of them that badly, then do it. It's your promise, right?"

Abedo ran forward and jumped into the air with a burst of speed. Rax jumped back and lifted his Keyblade into the air; he blocked the attack with one hand gripping the handle of the keychained weapon. The replica knew that Rax had experience with that type of weapon, but he wasn't going to let that stop him right now. Abedo was pushed back roughly and Rax jabbed the weapon forward, sending him falling to his knees. Rax wasn't going to waste anymore precious time with this game, he had much work to do.

"It's my promise…" Abedo strained to stand up. Rax had used a small jolt of electricity at the end of the attack, and the replica could feel his body respond differently. "It's mine… and mine alone!" the replica yelled out and dashed forward, making his opponent stumble.

Rax watched in slow motion as he stumbled back, started to stare up at the ceiling. '_Yours and yours alone…_' he thought closing his eyes for a moment. '_Dark Dance…_' he thought, and in a flash he back flipped and pulled out another weapon, one without a keychain attached to the weapon. Abedo prepared himself for whatever was going to come his way. The Keyblade twirled about, and the replica noticed that sparks were flying from the contact as it connected with the plain looking sword. Rax twirled about and moved in a flurry of slashes.

Abedo strained to try and maintain a good defense, but on the last strike of his Soul Eater connecting with the two opposing weapons he pulled back. He leaned against a pillar and growled for a moment. '_I should be able to keep up with him…_' he thought bitterly and moved forward once more.

"Listen, keep fighting me and you're not going to get a chance to carry out your promise…" the original said, he didn't want to fight the replica, it was obvious. "Why… Just ask yourself, why are you fighting me? Are you afraid, is that it? Are you afraid that once I do reach Ames and Jackie that you'll have no--?"

"That's enough! The two of you just stop!"

Abedo and Rax looked off in the distance and noticed a very transparent figure walk down the hallway. The two of them flinched hearing the angry voice and back away slowly. The figure seemed a bit static, and Rax knew who it was right away, but no doubt so did the replica. The girl in a plain black gown walked through the white colored area, her light blue eyes and silver hair piercing through the vast color of nothingness, she didn't seem all that glad to see either one of them for right now.

Then, she opened her mouth:  
"What in the hell are you two doing?!"

"…"

"Abedo…" she tried to maintain her composure, but her early outburst got the best of her. "You are supposed to take care of the intruders, not this dud!" she pointed a finger to the 'dud'. Rax rolled his eyes and looked away in annoyance.

"Sorry Ames…" he muttered throwing dirty looks in the direction of the one labeled in his head as 'original'. "I'm going right now…"

Rax and Ames watched as the replica disappeared from sight and without a doubt reappeared somewhere upstairs. She spoke once more:  
"And you!" she said harshly. If she could she would've pulled him up roughly by the collar, or by the ear, which ever one seemed painful. "What are you doing?! I thought you were going upstairs, not down here! I'm not even supposed to be talking to you…!" she ran her fingers through her silver hair, she was stressed out again. "You… and… and Light and Dark are making my job as stressful as it is. You want me to have a break down?!"

"…" he couldn't help but try to hide a smile.

"Oh… I suppose you find this funny now?!" she was losing her kind nature. Ames tried to relax for a moment, and asked a simple question. "Are you jealous of that replica? Come on spit it out. I saw the way you--"

"Jealous? Please, of that thing?" he asked walking through her. "I'm not jealous about that walking doll."

"That's a bit harsh don't you think?" she turned and looked at him.

"… Oh yeah, I **_may_** have messed up Light's memory a bit…" he muttered looking away from her.

"You what?!" she screamed. "No, no, no! What were you thinking…? That's it, listen I'm not talking to you for a while…" she disappeared from view. Rax continued walking forward towards the lower part of the castle. "Wait!" someone called out, it was her again. "I'm sorry… Have fun! Now I'm leaving…"

"I'm never going to understand you…" he mumbled and continued his walk down towards the basement.

The _Chilly Academic_ had front row seats towards the whole event, and at this point he was trying to formulate a plan. He was in the sanctuary of one of the computer rooms. He had noticed that their previous member was going towards where the other two were at, but he had a feeling his fellow members could take care of themselves just fine. '_I have to get the replica back though… Stupid emotions…_' he thought to himself and sighed. His job was almost as hard as the little witch's.

"Ok… the replica's going to get rid of Light and Dark… and…" he chewed on the pencil he had in his hand and mumbled the plan to himself for a moment. "Then… I can get the REAL Rax and finish him off…" Shimasax said, his green eyes staring up at the ceiling. "That's prefect!" he cackled. "Nusvext had no idea he was being used! He's mind is so easy to read… **_Fruity man_**…" he chuckled.

**In the white room**

"I'm going to die of a heart attack!" the girl said as Shimasax finally left her room.

The girl in the plain black gown was exaggerating but doing this job was a lot of hard work. '_If the Superior had just given me that little compass I wouldn't be stressing out!_' she was fuming now, and it showed as she paced back and forth. This was starting to wear her out, she didn't even care what happened to Light and Dark. She paused and reflected on her thoughts. True if it was up to her, she wouldn't have placed so much care towards those two, but Dark was someone she had to watch out for, because of who she was. Light, on the other hand was someone who would be less of a threat, if Rax took him in. '_Maybe I should separate the two? Wait no but that's not what Xauqa or the Superior said, but still…_'

Ames paced about in her 'cage' and tried to think of a way to get out now. '_I don't want to turn into just a mere shadow,_' she thought and sighed heavily. She paused and turned her gaze towards a bookshelf decorated in white. Several aged and torn journals stood there safe from the hands of others.

Ames opened her mouth slowly:  
"If I'm ever getting out of here, I'm taking them with me," she was referring to the aged books and walk over slowly towards the bookshelf, "To help out Sora, and Amaterasu."

The witch in black, as Ames was sometimes referred to as, cracked open one of the aged journals, its spine was decorated with black and red designs. In the center of it was a roman numeral 8:  
'I don't know how many days it's been since I counted my 'birth' but I know it seems like a long time. We've been sending Heartless and Nobodies this whole time while Sora's off doing his little 'hero' thing…

'There's someone by the name of--- actually… I forgot that person's name but I know for a fact that the Superior seems "happy" if you could even say that. I guess we should be "happy" too for this new person's arrival…'

-Codename: F.D.F

**With Light and Dark**

"What floor are we on now?" Dark asked.

Bruises and cuts covered their arms and legs, and their clothing seemed worn out with their own personal battle scars. Heartless and creatures by the name of Nobodies hunted the two relentlessly within the castle as they made their way up the floors towards where they hoped their answers were at. Light had told his companion that he lost count after the ninth floor.

"Let's just rest for a while, please?" Dark asked, and against Light's wishes, slumped against a white pillar and closed her eyes trying to relax for a while. Light growled in annoyance and looked back at Dark trying to figure something out.

"Don't you care about Ames?" he asked. "She could be in danger and--!" he stopped noticing Dark get up from the ground.

"Listen, weeks ago I knew nothing but her name, and I didn't mind. Now that I know who the heck she is, you're more worried about her than I'm supposed to be. I don't even know if we're suppose to save her, what if Nusvext was tricking us too?"

"But…" Dark cut him off again.

"You can go look for her if you want, but I want to rest, okay?" she asked crossing her arms over her head. "I'm tired, and hungry… Not to mention you are too, I know you are. Plus what about that guy, Rax? He should be helping Ames escape, not us… and why are you so interested in her? Ask yourself that…"

"I promised I'd be strong for her… She's my friend and she's in here somewhere, isn't that good enough?!" he yelled at her.

"It's not…" someone from the other opening said. Dark and Light looked away from one another and focused their gaze on the approaching figure. '_It looks like it looks like Terra from far away, but with a different clothing it looks like that Rax guy…_' Dark made a mental note of that. "Listen you two, just go home…"

"That's what I'm telling him!" Dark said agreeing with the new figure. Light just gave her a confused look.

"Huh… You know you look like her…" the figure said dressed in black, with a Heartless insignia on his chest. "But you don't smell like **_her_**." He advanced forward. Dark growled for a moment knowing who he was referring to.

"You're here for her too?" Dark asked, and watched as the figure nodded. He had the same hair as Rax, and the piercing blue eyes. Still something about him, the way he carried himself, Dark couldn't help but feel some sadness for him. "You're not Rax, are you…?"

"Abedo…" he said and looked back at Light. "Huh, if I didn't know any better I'd say you'd be Rax's brother." Light blinked, trying hard to follow his words. "Doesn't matter I suppose… Anyway you're trespassing here."

"Trespassing?!" the other two yelled out. "You're insane, Nusvext told us to come here!" Dark said walking forward for a second. "That's right, we're here to get answers and help save Ames!" Light said pulling out his Keyblade.

Here within the passageway to the next 'world' that was fabricated from these weird-looking cards, neither Heartless nor Nobodies traversed through. Dark pulled out a similar weapon of nature and looked back at Abedo, as he summoned a blade by the name of 'Soul Eater'.

"Just like Rax…" Abedo said rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "You're memories are probably fake…" the replica said slowly advancing forward. Dark and Light gripped the handles tightly on their weapons and looked at Abedo cautiously.

Within the safety of the white pillars a figure was watching from the shadows. It was none other than Shimasax who watched the fight that began. Dark jumped back as Abedo threw a black fireball in her direction. Light moved in and swung his Keyblade with force, to push the flaming attack away from his friend. Abedo stepped to the side and the flame struck the wall behind him. The girl growled for a moment and ran forward, her blade dragging at the bottom; sparks were flying from the contact of the tiles. '_She's going to place a Firaga spell on it…_' Light thought running behind her.

Abedo brought his weapon up as soon as Dark let the flames engulf the blade. She brought it down with heavy force, as sparks and flames shot out from the contact. Light jumped from behind Dark's attack, and brought his weapon down. Abedo pulled back, and spun around slightly, bring his blade into the air to block Light's above ground attack. Light was pushed back and Dark picked up where he left off. Abedo watched as the black Keyblade was thrown into his direction, but Dark was no where to be seen. He blocked the Keyblade with ease, and soon Light followed from behind.

Dark's Keyblade disappeared as Light kneed the replica in the stomach. She appeared from behind the replica of Rax, and tackled him down with enough force. She felt her body surge with darkness, and before long she changed her form, her skin as black as night, and her eyes were the same shade of yellow as the Heartless. '_Don't kill him Dark!_' Light thought, watching the replica pinned to the ground. If it weren't for 'Soul Eater' Abedo wouldn't have stood a chance against Dark when she was like that. She noticed something that hung by his belt. '_That pendant…_' she thought, and something rushed back to her quickly.

_Within the area you could hear voices yelling across in the dimension of where she was walking. She couldn't understand why the voice entered her mind, but for some reason she felt her heart sink for an unexplainable reason. '( )…' she thought stopping within the pathway of darkness stretched before her very eyes._

_( ), get him out of there! _

_'Whose voice is that?' she asked herself hearing more yells and cries entering her ears, and troubling her mind now. 'What's going on?' the figure felt her heart cry out in pain, everything in her mind went berserk. '( ) what's wrong!?' her mind screamed, and her breathing quickened._

_Help me…_

_'Something's wrong with you…' she thought in the back of her mind, she recognized his voice, and it broke her fragile crystal like heart, to hear him call out so weakly. 'Tell me what's wrong,' she asked the voice, she asked the voice within the boy's heart, but she got nothing, she could no longer connect with him. 'He's gone…'_

_"( )…?" she asked the dark abyss around her. "( )?" she asked again feeling alone now. "( )?!" she suddenly cried out loudly, the halls echoed his name through the space and time the darkness held within its frame. Something broke off in her heart, and a chain wrapped around her neck fell to the floor. She looked down and noticed the necklace he had given her. 'No…' her heart began to panic. 'I told you about your emotions…' the inner voice said letting its voice be heard. 'Now he has awakened, and you've lost your…' the pathway in back of her started to break off, and the figure started to run towards the light at the end of the road._

Dark felt her eyes widen at the sudden memory. Abedo kicked her off and she rolled backwards hitting her head on the pillar off to the side. Light looked back at her, but she shook her head signaling him to continue. Abedo parried against Light, with ease, but it was because both teens were tried from their fights in the previous levels below. Light took the chance once Abedo blocked his attack to punch him in the ribs, and to some degree it worked. The replica pulled back and panted for a moment, fearing that the wind was going to be knocked out of him. Abedo used another magical attack and aimed it straight at Light's heart. Dark rushed forward as she discarded her Heartless like form, pulling out her black colored Keyblade. The attack took seconds to conjure up, but that was all she needed. Within moments Light had already braced himself for the attack, and Abedo failed to notice the girl running towards him. Light watched as the magic spell was to its maximum, but out of nowhere a black Keyblade distorted the path of trajectory.

Dark panted for a moment, and outstretched her hand summoning her Keyblade once more, it had gotten stuck on one of the white pillars. The magical attack had exploded on impact with the aerial Keyblade. Abedo was pushed back from the gust of the attack, and Light ran forward, through the dust that had kicked up as a result. The Keyblade connected with the replica's shoulder, and he winced in pain. Dark watched as the replica was soon on its knee calling out truce, and Light was about ready to deliver the final blow, but something in his heart stopped him.

"I don't get it…" Light said, his Keyblade hovering dangerously close to the replica's head. The replica stared up at him, ignoring the Keyblade. "We're trying to do the same thing, but… Why are we fighting, we should be helping each other…"

"It's my promise… Mine and mine alone, I don't need you're help to do it…" Abedo said disappearing in a black mist.

Dark sighed and heard a noise from one of the pillars. She walked around lazily and soon came face to face with a man, he had long blonde hair and green eyes. She titled her head and looked back at Light telling him to get over here as soon as possible. The man referred himself to the _Chilly Academic_. The two told him they didn't want his Codename, but his 'real' name.

Shimasax sighed and finally said it:  
"Shimasax…" the figure in black said stepping away from the sanctuary of the pillars. "You've come looking for answers no doubt…"

"That's why we're here…" Dark said quickly before Light could get a word in edgewise.

"So that's what they lured you with…" Shimasax said softly and snickered. Light and Dark looked back at one another and then felt their eyes widen. "You guys are going to turn into Heartless puppets…" the two teens growled in frustration. "I take it the two of you don't know…" the _Chilly Academic _said with a smile etched across his face. "I'll have to tell you guys then…" Dark watched as a card materialized out of thin air. "Let's go…"

**The computer room**

There was a loud _thump_ as a palm come into contact with the screen. Nusvext looked really ticked off, and sadly Xejicka was the one to bear witness as the blonde yelled at the screen:

"What the…?! Has he gone insane?!" the blonde yelled out angrily. "How did he create that memory card?!" he thought about if for a moment. "It was probably Ames… she made that card for him. I knew she couldn't be trusted!"

"We don't know that for sure…" Xejicka said trying to stick up for the girl in the plain black gown.

Nusvext stared back at the screen and watched as Shimasax led the two teens towards another doorway. Xejicka watched with some interest and sighed for a moment. She had sensed another person within the castle moments after Light and Dark had entered. '_You really came back…_' she thought looking down at the ground.

"Now he's done something really stupid…" Nusvext mumbled watching as Shimasax gave Light a card, and disappeared from sight. He looked back at Xejicka and noticed that she was preoccupied with something else. "Can you stop daydreaming about Xehart and focus?!"

"…" she blinked for a moment and stared up at the blonde teen with blue eyes, who had a distinct hair style.

"If they figure out about the other side we can kiss this whole little show goodbye!" Nusvext said staring back at the screen. Xejicka thought he was trying to set it on fire or something, but he was jut really ticked off.

"If these two can pass on through, without suspecting a thing, we could…" she paused for a moment. "We should be able to patch things up, with Ames' help… But if not well…"

Xejicka stopped her little explanation and looked around. Nusvext looked around with her and the scent of flowers came strolling by. Nusvext noticed several flower petals fall from thin air, and Xejicka amused herself by setting them on fire, but still the sweet scent of flowers remained.

Then, the two of them heard a voice:  
"Well I guess being an old geezer was a cover up, he did a pretty bold move…" it was a feminine voice.

"Don't flatter him…" Nusvext said. '_These petals are so annoying!_' he thought and looked at the empty space. "He's just being stupid…" Xejicka on the other hand titled her head, '_You call that flattery?_' she asked herself.

The two of them watched as Xauqa reappeared from where the fallen petals remained, a teen around Nusvext's age with blue eyes and short light blue hair. Petal still appeared slightly, but Xejicka turned them into little embers, and watched as they fell to the ground. Number 11 frowned at the display and glared at Xejicka.

The _Graceful Assassin_ spoke once more:  
"There's no sense in standing here, something must be done…" Xauqa looked back at number 12 and 8. "All right, Xejicka, you're going." She said and no later did a single blue rose appear in her hand.

"Wha…?" Xejicka asked, holding a blue rose in her hand. She watched as her fingers grew warmer until the flower caught on fire. "But why me?"

"We can't let him ruin our plans…" Xauqa said trying not to twitch as she watched flower burn brightly. "So… eliminate him. There's no sense in having a traitor within an organization."

"Sweet!" Xejicka said and placed both of her hands in front of her. Flames engulfed her hands, and within moments two circular weapons, her trademark chakrams, appeared. "That's an order I'm not taking back, all right?" with that she disappeared in a burst of flames, and grinned. '_You're going to get it to… I know you are Xauqa…_' the chakram wielder thought.

**Land of Harmony**

"Wow…" Dark said breathlessly. This place was none like she had ever seen. Grassy hills, and wildflowers as far as the eye could see, with a lake in the far off distance, mountains covered in snow. Butterflies of the color blue and black fluttered about. This place seemed prefect. "Wait, but aren't these cards something that's within our memories?" she turned back and looked at Light.

"I don't remember this place…" he whispered to himself and looked around. He spotted a lake in the distance, everything seemed really calm here. It was strange, but this place did strike a chord in his heart, and no doubt Dark was feeling the same emotion. "But there's something **_nostalgic_** about this place." He said walking forward, there was no sign of Shimasax.

Dark ran about enjoying the silence and in the distance there were faint _caws_ from crows. She looked up in the evergreen trees and noticed the black feathered birds were staring at her. She nervously moved away and went back to Light's side. He looked at her with a confused facial expression, and she pointed up to the evergreen trees. He opened his mouth and looked at her with an expression that said 'you've got to be kidding me?'

"There aren't any Heartless or Nobodies here…" Light said looking back at her, and she nodded. The two of them were getting closer to the clear water lake. The sky above them signaled to them that it was late in the afternoon, dusk was clearly written across the skies. "What gives…?" he asked.

"Hey about earlier…" she said softly. "I'm sorry…" Light looked down at the grass as she began to apologize. "I've had a lot of things on my mind… and I remembered something…" she looked up at the dusky sky. "This guy with silver hair, but that's all I know for now, anyway," Dark cleared her throat, "This place does seem a bit familiar…" Dark said feeling something within her heart.

"Of course it should…" a voice said near them. "This place is from your memories…"

The two of them looked around but they didn't see anyone. Dark looked in back of her, and Light looked forward, there wasn't a body to supply the voice.

Again the voice spoke:  
"In a way I suppose it serves the two of you right for being slaves to your memory." Shimasax said loud and clear. Within moments the area around them became a bit more frigid, and Light could see his own breath. Where Shimasax appeared, frost began to weigh the blades of grass down, and the _Chilly Academic_ stepped forward. "This place, was created from the memory your soul has engraved into your very being…"

"We don't know this place!" Light growled, pulling out his Keyblade. "We've never…"

"If you two continue to believe those memories… and not your own heart…" Shimasax placed his body into a defensive stance, and at that moment a shield coated in blue appeared to form over his hand, "you might as well throw your hearts away." he noticed that the two teens summoned their Keyblades. "You keep going after the girl, and you'll turn into Heartless. You'll all sense of identity, and become her pawn!" he yelled at the two of them.

"We're nobody's pawns!" the two of them yelled back furiously. In the distances crows fled the sanctuary of the evergreen trees, and all three of them looked up at the black birds soaring high in the sky.

"Pretty pathetic…" Shimasax said. In a burst of speed, Dark was pushed back by a gust of freezing wind. She winced and staggered forward, bringing her Keyblade in front of her. Light moved forward once more, and jumped into the air, bringing his Keyblade over the back of his head, ready to deliver a devastating blow. Shimasax read his mind, and in the last spilt second brought his shield to the defensive stance, and pushed him back as the strange looking blade connected with the blue shield.

He tried to speak again:  
"Still I really don't see why the two of you are putting so much of your **_soul_** into finding Ames when--" the _Chilly Academic_ brought his shield up once more, blocking a fireball. "You guys as too far gone…"

Light panted for a moment, his weapon was pointed directly at number 4. Smoke emitted from the tip of the Keyblade, and Dark moved forward, raising her black coated Keyblade and Shimasax brought his shield up once more, and with his left hand he shot a Blizzaga spell. It connected with Dark's left hand. Light couldn't more anymore, the two of them were tired beyond the normality of the human stamina. Past fights were putting strains on their bodies. The _Chilly Academic_ sighed a moment, looking relieved by their action, and he withdrew his weapon.

"Now, the reason why this place is familiar to you is--!" a chakram appeared in the center of Shimasax's chest. The substance that caught the attention of the two teens was a deep crimson liquid that dripped down slowly from the tips of the chakram.

"Sorry to cut in you two," a familiar voice said. Shimasax's body slowly started to slump forward, and Dark watched the chakram, her eyes still fixed on the red substance that dripped.

"Xejicka?!" one voice was loud, and the other was reduced to a shaken, quivering voice.

"It's Xauqa's order…" Xejicka said pulling the weapon out, and slashing at the body once more in a swift motion. "See ya later, Shimasax." Dark felt the Blizzaga spell melt, and she moved back closers towards Light. Both of their weapons feel on the ground with a loud metallic clatter. The _Chilly Academic_'s weapon fell to the floor, the sharp edge of the weapon stabbing into the ground.

"You k-..killed him…" Light couldn't process that thoroughly into his mind. "But… but he's one of you!" Xejicka closed her eyes for a moment, trying hard to imagine that both of her chakrams weren't covered in blood.

"What **_are_** you people?!" Dark cried out, curling her fist. "Why did you--?!"

"…killed him…" Xejicka repeated to herself softly. Dark looked down at the deceased figure, but luckily Xejicka's body cover the waist up, she didn't want to see the face of a dead man. In moments the body seemed to disappear into the earth, in the form of snow. "It's true, I killed him, but… things without souls aren't necessarily alive in the first place. We're soulless." Soon the blood that covered her chakrams was gone. "With that…" flames replaced her chakrams and then the flames died down. "Here… Hero and Messenger…" she said softly giving the card to Light.

Light and Dark looked in back of them, the _Flurry of Dancing Flames_ was fast on her feet. She looked back at them with her hazel eyes, and grinned for a moment:  
"You guys want to figure that out for yourselves, right? Remember you lose something for something you gain in this weird place."

**With Sora and Amaterasu**

"Hey remember that DJ from the festival from Traverse Town?" Sora asked. Amaterasu looked at him trying to figure out what he was trying to say. "Seeing him… Axel, just like a regular human, it gave me hope. Nobodies aren't doomed to fade into the darkness at all…"

_"As touching as that little line was… You guys, hello, I've been trying to talk to you for five minutes now!"_

"Roxas?" the two of them called out. The two companions looked around the vast area, their eyes scanning for the Nobody of Sora. After seconds of searching they found nothing, and sighed in annoyance.

"Hey you guys!" Roxas placed his arm around his familiar and the brown skinned girl. "It's been a while, no?" he laughed and messed up their hair for a moment. The two of them were confused, but happy, but still mostly confused. "The elementals separated us for a while." The blonde hared Nobody said scratching the side of his cheek. "Are you guys… still confused?" he asked. Roxas sighed and jumped over the two, landing in front of them this time. "Do the words, 'I've been counting since the days of my birth' mean anything to you?"

"No…" both Sora and Amaterasu said in unison. Roxas sat down next to them and over looked the vast area around them. He commented on the great job the two of them did on creating their land, and they seemed a bit overjoyed by that fact. At least for now they had someone else to talk about.

Amaterasu spoke:  
"It sounds like when a kid counts down to their birthday…"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too…" Roxas said sighing for a moment. "It's referring back to when **_we_** were created as Nobodies. Our 'birth' so to speak… When you're in the womb you're asleep for most of the time, but you're aware of what's around you. Sort of like the birth of a Nobody…"

"Are Nobodies already within a person before they turn into a Heartless?" Sora asked, looking back at his other half.

"I guess so…" Roxas said sitting Indian style, and he looked back at Amaterasu for a moment. "Yours died, didn't it?" she nodded, and he expressed words of apology on his behalf. "All I know is that I woke up from some deep sleep…"

"Is that what the elementals told you?" Amaterasu asked. Roxas nodded and looked up at the dusky written sky.

Roxas began to speak once more, his blue eyes staring up at the faint light of a star:  
"They say you have the right idea of learning from the past…" he said and smiled for a moment. "But it's not going to be easy." The other two knew that so far. "People are going to try and trick you to go to their sides, because they want Kingdom Hearts as well as the power of the Keyblade… and bring the universe into a 'Dark Age' so to speak."

"Dark Age…" Amaterasu knew those words sounded familiar. "That's right, when they wanted me and Yomigami to teach you…" she said looking back at Sora. "You think that's what Ignis wanted, to have darkness rule over the whole universe?"

"Yeah…" Sora said, shuddering at the fact.

"Why do you hate it though?" Roxas and Amaterasu asked him.

"It's not that I _hate_ it, it's just scary… Because it messes up our worlds." The Keyblade master said softly.

"Anyway, that voice thingy is asking for the two of you, it's time to leave soon." Roxas said standing up. He stretched out his hands to the two of them and once they were pulled up, and a strange blue light engulfed Sora, and a black eerie looking light engulfed Amaterasu.

"Hey, you think when we're old and gray we're still going to remember this?" Sora asked.

"**_WE_**?" she asked laughing. "I don't age… but I suppose you'll still remember this when you're old and gray." Amaterasu said laughing.

The aura of light cease, and the two teens looked around. Blue eyes scanned one area, and dark brown eyes scanned another. The two of them looked slightly confused and noticed someone on top of a stained glass platform; the figure had silver hair, and a slightly battered body. The area looked all too familiar and so did the tall door in front of them.

"But this is…" Sora looked back at his companion.

**With Rax, the enigmatic figure**

Rax sighed for a moment, and finally finished off the last Heartless, and another Nobody popped up to replace it. He growled for a moment and stabbed the Nobody with brute force, and that was the last of them. '_Stupid castle…_' he thought and exited the world. He walked through the white hallway and found that he was getting tired himself, and decided to relax for a bit. He slumped against a white pillar and looked up at the white ceiling.

"Let's show them the only way/Let's show them our hearts…" he chuckled repeating the lyrics that Ames had once sung.

_"Shimasax is gone, Mr. Enigma!"_ Ames voice rang out in his ears.

"That leaves two of the Underground members…" he grinned and stood up. "There goes today/it slowly fades… slowly fades away…"

_"I thought you said you didn't like 'Shiny Toy Guns'?"_ he could picture her puzzled face.

"I never said I didn't like them either…" with that he started walk through the white hallway along another world, mirroring the journey of the two companions upstairs. "Why don't you try talking to them Ames. They could use some comfort…"

_"They have each for emotional support… You Terra… you've got no one…"_ the girl in the plain black gown finally said his name.

"I still have you, Jackie… and Heart…" he said pulling his hood down as he walked and stopped at the next doorway. He pushed the doors open and moved through to the next area, this one looked all too familiar. "Home…" he said staring at the illusion before him. He had longed for that word, and for right now he got to see his home, just the way his original self remembered. '_I may not be fully alive… but, my heart's glad…_'

"This is the end of the line for you, Rax…" he looked back and noticed someone with silver hair and turquoise eyes.

"Ruxsud…" Rax said pulling out his Keyblade. "The _Silent Hero_…"

**The White room**

"Nice work, Xejicka." Xauqa said as the _Flurry of dancing Flames_ arrived on scene. Xejicka noticed that flower petals were still falling around the _Graceful Assassin_. "We really weren't sure if had what it took to take out a fellow organization member." Xejicka placed a chakram in back of her and wished to set those petals on fire again. "Well, I guess you did have it in you."

"You're in the big leagues now, girl…" Nusvext said smiling slightly.

"I am…?" Xejicka asked, dismissing her weapons back.

"Stop acting stupid…" Nusvext said, and Xejicka felt some tap her forehead. She growled and looked back at the _Savage Fighter_.

"See, with the three of use," Xauqa began to speak, "it's going to be a piece of cake, to take over the organization." In the distance Ames was listening to the conversation, while trying to maintain a mental link with Rax. "…Then it's goodbye to this cramped castle…" she said crushing the flower in her hand.

Ames jumped up in her chair, feeling a gloved hand rest on her left shoulder. The girl in the plain black gown mentally cursed number 11 for disrupting her conversation. She looked up at the teen with blue hair and blue eyes, and titled her head slightly.

"You want a bigger room don't you?" she asked Ames. Ames looked down and pondered about it for a moment.

The girl in the plain black gown placed her hands on her lap, and clutched the fabric of her clothing. She closed her eyes and shook her head thinking about the words more. '_Raxter…_' she thought opening her eyes slowly, '_we're not really your _**_true_**_ friends, you know that,_' she looked up at Nusvext and Xauqa, '_you said that yourself when the three of you arrived together._' She looked away and sighed, '_but as we got to know you better, you made the three of us very happy_.'

"What about the rest of them?" Nusvext asked. He looked at Xauqa with his blue mischievous eyes.

"Just leave them be," Xauqa said softly, watching Nusvext through the corner of her eye. "They can't do anything now," she was beginning to disappear in the form of flower petals. Nusvext turned around, as she completely departed from sight, and looked back at Xejicka and Ames.

"Hey, Ames," he noticed that she looked up. "You should be happy now, you know. Your Hero and Messenger are coming. Superior was right all along, wouldn't you agree?" the _Savage Fighter_ slowly started to vanish, leaving behind some electrical sparks in his vanishing act.

Xejicka looked at Ames for a moment, trying to think of what to say. '_He was wrong about Rax though,_' the two females thought for a moment. '_Maybe the events of the future will now be altered, because of him and Sora,_' Ames thought, '_but even now I'm falling into the Superior's trap._'

She sighed and whispered this mostly to herself:  
"Hey… Terra…" she began softly. "you're probably fighting right now, so I doubt you can hear me, but I want you to know that we still care about you, and…" she paused for a moment looking around the room. Xejicka was nowhere to be seen for now, "I know now that you aren't alone, so I'm sorry for saying that."

"That's pretty touching…" Xejicka said in back of Ames. "Kind of hard to believe a kid like you would say that believing that everything is going to be all right, considering you screwed up our plans, by giving that card to Shimasax…" the chakram wielder smiled. "And yet…"

"Oh give it a rest, you wanted to get rid of them too." She said trying to regain her composure. "And your job is to take out traitors, that was Xauqa's order, right?"

"You want me to get rid of you?" she asked.

"No…" she said flatly. "Rax would kill you if you did that. But I mean we do have other traitors in here."

"Rax is considered one though…"

"That's true… but he's pretending to be a member from here, remember? The other two have lost their hearts in here…"

"… I don't think it's wise to talk about it in this place though." The pyromaniac-chakram-wielder said poking the side of Ames' head. "Walls have ears and eyes in this place, got it memorized?"

"You just focus on letting past events come together again within the castle… We've got to get Sora to dispose of Marluxia," Ames covered her mouth and gasped.

"I knew it!" Xejicka said laughing. "Stop reading those journals… They're going to mess with your mind."

"Axel…" she snickered.

"Hey! It's J--!" Xejicka scrunched up her face. "Nice try traitor…"

**A/N**: You know what to do **_one_** review please!


	10. X

**A/N:** Thank you once again to my readers and reviewers, you keep me going!

**Aina Loneheart:** I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, for taking your time to read this, and it's greatly appreciated. So then, you're Rozen-senpai's young sister? It's very nice meeting you! I'm going a bit slow with trying to bring King Mickey and the others since I don't want everything to happen too fast, but one important figure comes out in this chapter! Tell Rozen I send my greetings! I'm trying hard with fixing the typos so bear with me.

**Xejicka:** Wait Rax isn't a man… (thinks) anyway thanks for your lovely review Xejicka, and well keep that picture away from Jackie, who knows what she would do! I've been wondering about that meeting to, I'll look into it and tell you the results of it one day.

Now with that… on with the story!

**Chapter 10: Ames , Herói , e Mensageiro**(Ames, Hero, and Messenger)

Xiaga sighed, enjoying the silence from their little headquarter. Being underground really had no effect on him, but still at times he would've liked someone to thank him once in a while. The young member sighed, running his black gloved hand through his hair, his bangs were getting in the way of his vision from time to time. Something was bothering him now.

"What was it you didn't want me to see, Ames…" he asked himself softly. Xiaga rested his elbows on the table, bringing his chin forward so that it rested on his closed hands. "What's so special about those journals anyway?"

Xiaga received no answer from the depths of his mind, but only a name that Ames once muttered out by accident. It was something that Xiaga would forever hold on to. '_Ienzo_,' he thought dimly and looked up at the ceiling from their underground base. Ienzo was the name of the original sixth member of Organization XIII. Xiaga took on his role, and played it very well, but he didn't know why he played it. '_Those without souls,_' he thought and sighed, '_are we just puppets then?_'

"_Hey Gaia!" he remembered that voice, it was trailing down the corridor of the Castle that Never Was. "Wait up…" she stopped running and placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. "I'm coming with you too…" Ames said softly._

"_Are they Superior's orders, or do you just want to tag along?" he asked rather unkindly._

"_A little of each…" she said, scratching the back of her head, "Cloaked Schemer." Xiaga knew that it was Ames who had given each of the 13 members their codename, the Superior had no part in that process. "What's then name of that place?"_

"_Castle Oblivion…" Xiaga continued to walk down the hallway, away from the meeting room._

"_It was there before the others, right?" Xiaga sighed, hearing Ames ask another question. He didn't answer but continued walking forward. The young girl growled for a moment and jumped on his back. He stumbled forward at the sudden weight and she heard him growl in annoyance. "Hey!" she said slightly upset. "Don't ignore me Ienzo…"_

"_What?" he turned his head to looks at her._

"_No… Nothing…" she said pulling down his hood, and running off. Xejicka and the others who were being transported to Castle Oblivion were far ahead of him. "Come on Xiaga you're making us late!" the others called after him in their own way._

The whole event seemed to happen at a fast past, but the only name that stuck in his mind was 'Ienzo'. After that event, he remembered that Ames looked at him differently, and treated him differently. Before he noticed she was cheery towards him, and at some points it'd annoy him to the point where he'd create an allusion to get her to quiet down. '_After the groups spilt up, she stopped visiting us little by little_,' the 'Cloaked Schemer' thought sadly. Truth be told, he did miss the young girl's company, she knew so much than she let on, her and the Superior seemed to be almost on the same wavelength.

"I was right," he said to himself softly, "they are pulling the strings… But then, this makes no sense…" he reflected back on Shimasax's words, 'past actions written in the sky'. "That means we're just mirroring, right?"

"Our likes and dislikes…" Xiaga looked at the manga book that was on the table. It was Ruxsud's. "I suppose maybe that's the price we pay then…" he sighed and stared down at his own hands. "It's appalling, our own members are taking their own kind out. Shimasax is gone, and I sent Ruxsud to capture Raxter." He grasped a glass cup and spun it around, watching the edges reflect light from the ceiling. He felt angry for some reason and growled again. "Those bastards…" he said furiously. "You had us wrapped around your fingers… You were using her to befriend us, and slowly…" he threw the glass cup against the mirror across the room. "We became shadows of our old selves… Damn that witch, and the Superior."

The mirror had shattered on to the floor, and he realized he had thrown Ruxsud's cup against the reflecting piece of the imitating glass.

**With Ruxsud and Rax**

The ground began to shake around them, as a large tomahawk, colored in red and black, was stabbed through the ground with brute force. '_He out ranks me…_' Rax thought, narrowly avoiding a column of earth from colliding with him. The silver hared individual ran forward, and jabbed his weapon forward, and the former member knew he couldn't block with his Keyblade. He was thrown down to the ground with bone crushing force, and skidded towards an erect column of earth. He groaned in pain, as Ruxsud moved towards him once more.

"I'm still amazed you have enough energy to make sounds…" Ruxsud said placing the tip of the large tomahawk on the ground. He looked at Rax and sighed for a moment. "We could really use your help in overthrowing Xauqa…"

"Why…?" Rax asked picking himself up. His lip was bleeding, and his right arm had several cuts. "Aren't those two enough?" he asked, summoning another weapon at hand. The strange looking blade didn't make number 5 flinch at all. Ruxsud knew his attacks left and right, he had trained him.

The large tomahawk was lifted up once more, and Rax moved quickly to escape the large weapon. Ruxsud wasn't going to let him leave anytime soon, and threw the large bladed weapon into the air. Rax felt something connected with his back, and he yelled out in pain, his stomach and chest colliding strongly with the jagged pieces of the shattered ground. '_You can't do this on your own, now can you?_' Rax winced at the sound of the voice, and because of the pain coursing through his body. '_A little help from me wouldn't hurt you…_' the voice said within the mind of the figure. He didn't want to lose to number 5 at all, but he didn't want to win at that cost.

Ruxsud watched as Rax slowly picked himself, leaning against a keychained weapon for support. Rax coughed for a moment, and he winced as the muscles in his stomach began to ache from the collision with the jagged rocks. '_I don't want to die…_' he thought, thinking back to the promise he made to Ames. '_I want to take care of my friends…_' he picked up his other weapon, and brought them towards his side, facing Ruxsud.

"It'd be better, if you just call out your darkness…" the _Silent Hero_ said softly, catching the attention.

**In another level within the castle**

_A strange humanoid Heartless waited for the young girl to get near the bike, and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. "Thank you, ( )…" she said softly, and felt a smile creep up on her. "But I'm afraid I won't be going with you…" the name wasn't audible this time._

_The young girl flinched and looked up at the Heartless. 'But… But why?" she asked feeling hurt. "I thought…"_

"_I can't… Or rather I won't. This is a fight to get back what you've all lost. I haven't lost anything," she said looking back at a man with dark blue hair for a moment. "Besides, I've found a place…" she said hoping that the girl would understand her decisions. "I want to thank you… for trying to get my heart back…" the Heartless said hugging the girl once more. "Next time you come back here, we'll see each other again, all right?" the young girl nodded and felt tears run down the side of her face. "I think I've found my heart…" the Heartless said. "You can guess who it is…" the young girl knew who it was and laughed. "Take care, my friend…" with that the Heartless felt something beat within her chest. 'One step at a time…' she thought hugging her 'client' one last time._

"She seems so familiar…" Dark said softly, trying to place a name on the Heartless that ran through her mind. '_I know I should remember her, but…_' still all her thoughts were in vain. The two of them were outside the place known as the 'Land of Harmony'. Light said that they would investigate the fabricated world once they finished their job here within Castle Oblivion. "I'm beginning to question this…" she said, looking at Light, he stood out in the white hallway.

Light looked back at her, and looked down at his hand for a moment, and lightly touched the pendant on his neck. Those two pendants were very special to him, but he couldn't remember their names now. He sighed and looked back at Dark, she was starting to slowly move back, and he could since the hesitation in her heart. He spoke out softly:  
"Are you saying, that… that we should give up on her?" he asked.

"No… that's," she bit her lip and looked away from Light's gaze. "That's not what I mean, but still if she's so important to the two of us, why couldn't we remember her? Why did we remember her a while ago?"

"Listen…" Light started to walk down the hallway, towards the next door. "I know if you don't want to go and look I won't force you. Sit down, go home, sleep, do something else for all I care, but I'm going to find her, without your help." She growled for a moment and ran towards him.

"Stop acting like that!" she snapped, and he looked back at her. "Just stop it!" she felt upset for some reason, was it jealousy? '_He should be paying more attention to the other girl and me, not Ames…_' she thought bitterly. "Just ask yourself why!" Dark yelled at him, feeling her eyes get watery.

Light clenched his fist, and bit his lip, looking away from his companion. He told her once last time:  
"I'm going to find Ames!" he said pulling out his Keyblade, and pointing it to her menacingly. "You can't stop me Dark…" with that she watched him run down the hallway with the strange weapon in his hand.

"You idiot!" she screamed, her voice echoing down the hallway of the castle. "Maybe Shimasax was right!" Dark paused and looked down at her feet. "Light!" she called out to him. "S---!"

**The white room**

Ames turned off the little screen in front of her, and looked down at her hands. Her light blue eyes looked up once again at the empty black screen, and sighed in anguish for some reason. Xejicka was leaning against a white table, watching the live feed of video stream through the screen. Her hazel eyes looked down at the young silver hared teen and felt some sort of sadness. Ames was lost in thought for a moment; she couldn't help feel like everything had fallen into place, just like the Superior had wanted.

"I know… that I've said this once before, but you're all they've got left now…" the _Flurry of the Dancing Flames_ said softly. Ames felt a gentle gloved hand pat her on the head, and blue eyes stared up at tinged hazel orbs. "Are you going to be the one to save them?" she asked softly. Ames looked down at her hands, and looked away for a moment. "Xauqa isn't here, and there's no one to stop you, so what do you say? You going to make things right?" with that she noticed that Ames stood up and walked out the door.

"Xejicka…" Ames said softly. "Try not to become a shadow…" that was all she wanted from the chakram wielder. "Whatever you do… don't repeat Axel's actions…" with that she ran as fast as she could. She could sense Light and Dark's presence, but one seemed further away from the other. '_Light, you should've listened to her,_' she thought sadly, running down the familiar white corridor.

Ames' words fell on deaf ears, as Xejicka was watching the little doll within the white cage. The doll mimicked Ames' image, and she smiled slightly. Pushing one of the white bars of the cage, and it moved back and forth slightly. '_Caged bird…_' she thought and shook her head. '_No, more like a trained pigeon_,' Xejicka thought. She walked around the white room looking at the drawings, and found something sticking out of Ames' new sketchbook. She took out the white sticking corner, and looked at its content.

'_Dear King,_

'_How have you been? _

'_I've probably written over a hundred rough drafts, trying to figure out how to tell you all of this, but… I suppose I am wasting time by just beating around the bush._

'_Like my original self, I've never really been one to keep promises, no matter how hard I try, I suppose that's because of what I am… No sense of moral, I suppose, but I think it's something more than just that._

'_If your hypothesis is correct, just like that of the one the Superior has foreseen, then I'm afraid once you receive this letter, things will have already transpired as they did about two years ago. But Your Majesty, HE has come back. There is hope, as Sora said so himself when he saw that familiar of Axel. If you can, please try and help us out here. Those with no sense of direction, those who will surely end up repeating the events all over again. I want to believe that those three, will survive to help Sora and Amaterasu out._

'_Again, you don't have to if you don't want to, but the least you could do is just see Terra again, even if he isn't the real one, he's still Terra at heart._

_'We'll be waiting for you in Castle Oblivion…_

_Trying to set things right,  
__Ames Diaz'_

_Rough draft # 35_

Xejicka laughed to herself:  
"You're doing this for those three, wait no it's for us…" she laughed. "And here I thought you were loyal to the Superior, but the bonds of friendship are stronger than whatever grip the Superior has…" that was something the chakram wielder knew by heart.

**With Ames, the witch in black**

"I'm sorry you two…"

She continued to run down the hallway as fast as her two feet could carry her. Quickly Ames stopped for a moment, and looked down at the light red sandals on her feet. Ames took them off of her two feet, and ran down the hallway once more with her discarded sandals in her hand.

"I'm very sorry, Amaterasu… Sora… It's not because I was lonely, but it was because…" she paused for a moment and looked around the area. Their presence seemed very close. '_But why is she by herself?_' she thought to herself and continued to run one more. '_I wonder if Rax's memories will interfere with the next world…_' Ames thought as she ran down the hallway.

Somewhere in the distance Light had used the card that Xejicka had given him and Dark sometime ago. '_This is where it all began…_' Light thought looking around the area.

"Amber Pacific…" he said to himself softly. He walked around the hilly area, where he knew the outskirts of the town would soon appear. He could soon see the sign that welcomed people to the area, but he stopped himself from advancing forward. As he sat down right next to the welcoming sign, he looked up at the sky for a moment. The words of Shimasax, the _Chilly Academic_, haunted his mind.

He looked down at the dusty shoes on his feet:  
"I know my own heart though…" Light said, and Dark's voice replayed in his mind. "I just want to help Ames…" he said softly to himself.

"Hey, you're talking to yourself buddy…" a familiar voice said in back of him. Light turned around and noticed someone with familiar brown hair and blue eyes. "You sure you're all right, Light?" Terra asked.

Within the mind of the young Keyblade bearer, he pictured Rax, then the replica, and now Terra. They were the same, and yet not at the same time. '_But it's weird, that Terra started his vacation right about the same time as things were starting to happen…_' he thought and shook his head. He told Terra, the one from his memory, that he was all right. Someone in the distance appeared, in back of Terra, and Light tried to figure out who it was, but to no avail. '_She looks like Aqua, but… that's not her,_' he knew that for a fact. '_That girl, she's got red hair…she's the one who gave me my first necklace, and then it was Ames…_'

"Hey man, are you sure you're all right?" Terra asked.

"Huh…" Light looked up at him slightly and nodded vaguely. '_A sudden urge to protect her… I wonder if it has anything to do with that guy…_' he asked himself within his mind.

From a safe distance Ames was watching the small event, and she sighed. Dark wasn't there to be the voice of reason this time. '_HE should've listened to her, but… he's like __**him**__ too. Now that he ended up giving him some of his memories, I think the little "Hero" wants to find me more for the fact of Rax's memories._'

"Hey Light!" someone else called him out. He looked to the side and noticed that Ventus was there, waving and giving him his trademark grin. The girl from before was gone, and Light looked around once more, after returning the gesture to Ven. Aqua soon appeared afterwards and give him a small smile.

"Hey where's Dark?" Aqua asked looking around slightly.

"She's right---" he stopped quickly after motioning to his side. "She's not here…" Light said dimly and sighed for a moment.

"Oh, you guys got into a fight…" Ventus said rubbing the back of his head. '_This one looks very familiar too…_' Light thought watching Ven's facial futures. "Don't worry, she'll come back." He said trying to give comfort to Light.

"Just give her some time." Aqua said smiling for a moment. "Well we were just going to the café again, and Terra had a sudden urge to come over here. So you want to come with us?" she asked looking at Light.

"I suppose so…" Light said looking at the road in back of him. He thought back to when he and Dark ran through that path trying to escape a Heartless. "She'll come…" he said to himself softly and walked forward with them.

Ames watched from the sidewalk opposite of the one he traversed along. Her silver hair made her stand out, but she wanted that. Something in the frame of the fabricated world began to crack. '_Heartless…_' the witch thought as pools of black liquid began to appear from the cracks of the sidewalks.

"Light!" she called out. The teen known as Light looked up, and for a spilt second heard Dark's voice. His eyes began to widen a bit at the sight before him. Citizens from the area began to run into a panic, and Light told the other three to go to some place safe.

Light growled for a moment and pulled out his Keyblade. '_That's Kingdom Key…_' Ames thought watching Light run forward, and disposing of the Heartless. A Neo Shadow jumped into the air, and at once the teen felt claws dig into his back, and Light cried out in pain. '_She's not coming…_' Ames thought bitterly and looked away. The sound of metal connecting with flesh seemed less than audible when a Heartless was sent back into the crowd of other dark creatures. She noticed that as the darkness dispersed from the Heartless the captive heart taken by the dark creatures was released, going towards the heart of all hearts.

"Enough…" Ames said softly, and the Heartless stopped moving and turned to the one who directed the order. Slowly the Neo Shadows crawled back into the depths of darkness as they melted into the cracks of the street. "Hello… Hero…" she said.

"Ames…" he said dropping his Keyblade from shock. The look of relief was perceptible on his facial feature, and he gave a big smile. "You're here…"

The girl in the plain black gown forced a smile to tug at the corners of her mouth, and Light noticed her appearance. She wore a black simple dress, and had silver shoulder length hair, and light blue eyes. She and Dark almost looked the same side by side. He heard her speak:

"Why isn't Messenger here with you?" Ames asked kindly.

"She…" Light didn't know how to tell her.

"In anyway case then, I should say I'm glad you came for me…" she paused for a moment and looked down at her bare feet. "But I won't or rather I can't…"

**Abedo the replica**

He wandered the halls aimlessly trying to figure out his memories. Words were beginning to sink into him, and they were becoming bothersome to his emotions, and his thoughts. '_I want to be different…_' he thought to himself, and came across a huddled body. He squinted for a moment and noticed it was the girl with who he fought earlier. '_What's she doing here?_' he asked himself, and cautiously made his way towards her. The replica heard the faint echoes of sobs, and he felt a bit puzzled for a moment. '_She's crying…_' the replica thought and felt a sudden rush of courage to run forward.

Dark looked up hearing the sounds of feet, '_is it Light?_' she asked herself, but gasped a bit when she saw the familiar black suited replica. '_Abedo,_' she thought and looked down at the shoes on her feet. They were worn out with constant running, and evading, the small rips each had a story to tell with the encounters of Heartless and Nobodies. Abedo felt remorse for the crying figure and decided the best thing to do was sit next to her. '_It's because you and her are alike,_' the replica told himself and looked at her for a moment.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking down at the floor, not gazing up at him. Abedo was taken slightly aback, from the tone in her voice, it was rather cold, but that wasn't going to affect him in the least.

"I was walking around…" he said softly. '_He sounds just like Terra,_' she thought and looked down at the strange boots he wore. "And I heard you crying, so…" he paused and noticed that she scooted away from him, still that didn't bring him down. "So," he continued, "I came to see what was wrong you."

Dark noticed the familiar pendant that was on his belt, and stared at it for a moment. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. '_His name…_' she began to think, '_it started with an "r"._' Abedo watched her fidget now with two keychains. One mimicked the weapon that Rax brandished during their fight, and the other was in the shape of a small black crown. She let her finger tip fall gingerly on the one with the black crown, and she sighed. Dark looked up and titled her head slightly, wondering why Abedo was looking at her.

"Rax, your partner, and you yourself wield those weapons," Abedo said softly, looking into her eyes for a moment. "You each must have a very strong heart then." He said.

"It takes more than a strong heart, to wield a Keyblade." She said softly.

"So then what does it take?" he asked, curiously. This was the first time he sat down face to face with one who wielded such a weapon. She shook her head, even she did not know, but he didn't pressure into asking her why she did not know. "How do you know though?" he asked her.

"Beings as old as the universe itself…" she said looking up at the white ceiling. She was trying to imagine the blue sky. "They told us that… but now I'm not so sure about that too…" Dark said looking at Abedo, smiling slightly at him.

"Sounds like a load of bull to me…" Abedo said, noticing the blank face of the girl before him. "But that's one person opinions to another, right?"

"Yeah…" she nodded and looked down at the pendant that was one his belt. "Where'd you get that?"

"Ames gave it to me," Abedo said softly. She noticed that the replica started to relax when he mentioned her names. "Rax has one like it too…" he said rather acrimoniously.

"What do you expect…?" she said patting the replica on the head. "You're a copy."

"And so is she…" Abedo said pushing her hand away from him. "Ames is a copy of you, just like I'm a copy of Rax…"

"Don't even mention her name to me right now…" she said looking away in an opposite direction. Dark was beginning to get upset once more. "She's taken my best friend away, and… we've each lost someone important as we started our journey back home."

"Who?" the replica asked, noticing the confused looked on Dark. He asked again, "who did you lose?"

"That's just it… I don't know who." She said looking at her hands for a moment. "We came here to get some answers, and we've been tricked within Castle Oblivion… our memories are…" she paused finally letting it dawn on her, "our memories are being thrown into oblivion."

"Well…" Abedo said looking at one of the pillars of white. "Do you at least remember your true name?" he asked.

"It's…" she paused trying to say the first syllable, but nothing came out.

"You're losing your identity," the replica said feeling out of place for a moment.

"I have to go and tell Light," she said standing up and running towards the direction that Light used a while ago. "It was nice talking to you, replica!" she said as she ran forward.

"Xejicka…" Abedo said staring at the pillar off in the distance. "You can come out now."

"Huh… You know I didn't think you'd end up _liking_ her." The pyro-chakram-weilder said pushing some strands of black hair back from her eyes. "She's the original of the copy…"

"That's your friend you're talking about too," Abedo said standing up and dusting himself off.

Xejicka sighed for a moment and watched Dark disappear through the door. The hallway echoed with the sound of the wooden door closing loudly.

"I don't like her…" Abedo said slowly rising up from the ground. "But I don't hate her either… I just want to make Ames happy…"

**Somewhere in the lower basements**

A royal figure walked through the white hallways with a letter tucked safely in the pocket of his black coat. His two royal knights walked alongside him searching for the people that sought out their help. There was a shift in pressure in the air about them, and the king could only sense a battle was raging downstairs. '_That's Terra…_' he thought running forward, and his own Keyblade in hand. The two royal knights ran alongside with him.

"_Your Majesty…" a wizard that donned blue clothing said. "This came for you." The white duck delivered the message addressed to the king. The paper was as white as snow, and in the middle was a red stamp, with the symbol for 'love' and 'sun'. the king read the contents of the letter, and looked off into the distance of the view he had of his country._

"_Donald, Goofy," the king said looking at the two he trusted the most. "Get the gummi ship ready."_

"_Where are we goin your Majesty?" the taller knight asked._

"_To go and help out some friends…" the king said softly as he got off of his throne. He walked forward as his two nights walked right alongside him. "No wonder…" he said to himself. "It's no surprise that we forgot them so quickly."_

"_Forgot who, King Mickey?" Donald the mage asked._

"_Our friends," King Mickey replied turning left to the gummi hanger. "They're in trouble."_

King Mickey heard a loud yell in the distance, and felt the earth shake quickly upon on the sound. In the distance the king saw pieces of the ground ripped, and displayed dangerously on the floor underneath their feet. A figure with two weapons was thrown once more into the air, and quickly the figure countered the attack, throwing one weapon in the direction of the attacker. The attacker blocked the weapon with ease, and the figure dove forward, knocking the figure with the large tomahawk. '_Terra…_' the royal mouse thought looking at the young figure in an organization coat. The Keyblade in the young teen's hand was coated with blood, but the royal figure doubted that it was from his opponent.

"Your Majesty…?" the shield wielding knight, and the mage looked down at the figure by their side. He in turn looked at his two closest friends and knights. "Should we help him?"

"We'll wait a bit longer," he said deciding to follow the note in his pocket to the letter.

"Are you sure?" Donald Duck asked in a worried tone. He looked back at the dog like knight, and Goofy shrugged.

King Mickey pulled out the note in his pocket, and read one part carefully:

'_Should you decide to help us, your Highness, we'll be more than grateful. If you decide to seek out Terra, just follow him closely. When you see that he can no longer hold out on his own, then you can intervene. I know that you yourself would like it if he conquered the darkness within his heart, right? Anyway as you read this I'm probably talking with the other two, I shall try and restore them as quickly as I can, wish me luck my King._'

**In the fabricated Amber Pacific**

"I'm not the one who gave that to you…" she said softly, pointing to the pendant on Light's necklace. The world around them began to break, there were thick cracks running along in the sky, and the walls began to disintegrate, like sand in the wind. The dusky sky of Amber Pacific began to fall down around the witch and the 'Hero'. The sky revealed its true appearance, as being light blue, with clouds made of different shades of white. "Or the other pendant…" she spoke as soft and hot sand began to encompass the soles of their feet. "Think…" she said softly, begging him. "Someone important to you, who cares for you with all her heart. Who would give her soul for you…" Ames paused for a moment.

The young teen looked around, there was a clear ocean as far s the eye could see, with a lone little piece of land in the distance, that had a curved tree on it. He looked to the side, and noticed a girl with red hair sitting by the shore, holding out a little shell. '_It's that girl…_' he thought trying to walk forward once more. '_Wait but this is my…_'

"Light!" he turned around quickly noticing his friend. She was still mad at him for what he did, but she came after him no less. Dark stood next to him, and she curved her body forward, trying to catch her breath. She looked up and noticed a girl who looked like her. She felt some sort of strange emotion, when she spoke her name:  
"Ames…" she said softly. At that point Light noticed that Ames smiled genuinely for the first time. "It's you…"

"Hey… Sunny," the girl with brown skin and silver hair said smiling. "It's been a really long time." With that Ames completely destroyed the image of the area, and they were back in a familiar white passageway.

"What's the deal…?" Dark asked. "I can't remember my real name…"

"It's because," she was cut off quickly.

"I'll tell you why…" the replica materialized in front of Ames. "It's because she's trying to take away your identities. Without names, you don't have a sense of identity, you don't have a place to belong." He looked at Dark. "She's finally made a name for herself, and you come along…"

"Shut your mouth!" Light said pulling out his Keyblade once more. "You're a replica, so don't go saying things you can't understand!"

"The pendant you have…" Dark began to speak up. "It's a fake… I hope you realize that, I couldn't find a trace of his scent on there anywhere… Or of the person who gave it to you…." She sighed for a moment and started to walk forward once more, she tried to ignore the piercing gaze of the replica. Moments ago he had helped her, but that was his plan all along, he had tricked her.

Ames looked away, she knew she was guilty. In her mind memories of Light and Dark were running through her head. The hardships the two endured, they left behind friends and family who cared for them deeply. '_They experienced love…_' she thought looking into the eyes of Light, and then at Dark's eyes. '_They've known betrayal… They know what it means to be their own person._' She smiled slightly, avoiding Dark's gaze once more. Without names, or memories, she knew that those two would be lost if it weren't for the fact of that very strong and unbreakable bond that not even she could shatter. '_They've got an unbreakable friendship…_' she thought feeling remorse, and looked down at her hands. '_What do I have?_' she asked herself.

Another memory rushed into her head, it seemed to be coming too fast:  
"…_you're my light…" it was the same silver hared teen from before._

"_Darkness can't be light," the female speaker said sadly and she closed her hands and sighed shaking her head. "Why am I your light? Why do you think I'm your light?"_

"_Why am I your light?" the male speaker asked crossing his arms over his chest. The female speaker opened her mouth but closed her mouth since she couldn't really answer the question herself. "It's hard to answer that. I just… It's what my heart says, that's what yours says too, right?" he asked her._

"There's someone who is special to you," Ames said addressing to Dark. "I'm sorry for taking away the memories you created with him…"

"Apologize to Light too…" she said softly, looking at the confused state Light's expression showed.

"The girl who is most important to you…" Ames said looking at the royal figure of the pendant, "she…"

**With Xauqa and Nusvext**

Nusvext discarded his black coat, and sighed in content, the room temperature within the area was too hot for a coat. Nusvext was wearing black pants and a faded amber and black shirt. He quickly took one of the drinks on the table and looked at the green colored can, that was labeled 'Squash XIII' and it depicted a yellow lemon cut in half with a green background. He lifted the little metallic tab, and drank it nosily. Xauqa looked at him from the corner of her eye and shook her head in disappointment. Number 11 looked up at the white ceiling and then to the window in the far off distance. Tables surrounded the two of them with food, they were celebrating something.

"Hey…" she said looking at the blonde for a moment. "Can you drink that with a little more etiquette?"

He burped and placed the can down.

"Obviously not…" Xauqa said taking a can of her own and slowly drinking the citrus beverage.

"Hey come on, girly assassin, what's a celebration without living it up?" he asked happily and grabbed the bucket of cooked chicken. He looked up at her, and noticed what she was wearing. A simple pair of blue jeans and a black shirt, with a rose made out of a red blood splattered silhouette, and a pair of earrings. He stuffed a small piece of chicken into his mouth and smiled slightly.

"Yeah…" she said softly and smiled looking down at the lone flower petal that fell on the top of the drink in her hand. She pushed back several strands of blue hair and looked at the window once more. She stopped for a moment and watched Nusvext as he ate nosily; he was ready to eat all of the chicken in the bucket. "Umm…"

The blonde sighed after swallowing his piece of cooked poultry and looked at Xauqa for a moment and sighed in content:  
"_Look you guys!" a young girl with shoulder length layered blue hair stood on her tip-toes and pointed up at the night sky before them. Three pairs of blue eyes watched as stars colored the sky with their silvery streaks moving through the celestial area above their heads._

_She smiled:  
_"_Isn't this awesome?!" she asked both of the boys in back of her._

_The two younger ones from the three smiled and watched the heavens display the orchestrated vision right before their very eyes. The girl grabbed the hand of the younger figure, and the two of them smiled happily while blushing slightly. The older figure placed his arms around the two o f them and laughed:  
_"_Picture prefect moment, wouldn't you say?"_

Nusvext sighed snapping back into reality, and noticed that Xauqa was staring at him with some interest. She swished the drink around in her hand, watching some petals fall down from her small actions. She looked down at the green covered drink for a moment and sighed.

"You're drooling, Nusvext," she said with an amused look on her face. In any case she leaned forward and looked around the several carton buckets that the two of them had bought for their celebration. Nusvext growled for a moment and noticed that he wasn't drooling, and so he instead grabbed another piece of chicken and stuffed it into his mouth.

"…" the blue hared member made a slight noise of disapproval.

"What?" a piece of chicken was being lynched from Nusvext's lips.

Xauqa overlooked some of the empty buckets and found at least two that contained some chicken. "Before you end up eating it all," she said frowning, "since there's still some chicken left, go get Ames and Xejicka. They're probably hungry…" she heard Nusvext bit into a piece of crispy skinned chicken. "You can be a stingy guy sometimes…" she mumbled glaring at him.

Nusvext growled for a moment and took another piece of chicken, and disappeared in a small display of electrical sparks, leaving his coat behind. He first appeared in the white room and expected to find Ames there drawing, or singing, but he didn't. He looked around the white room and noticed that the little makeshift cage was moving slightly with the little doll tipped over to the side.

He didn't thing anything of it for now and sighed:  
"We should've invited them in the first place, I told her, but she never listens, wait bu…" the piece of chicken from his hand fell to the ground when he realized it. "They…" he disappeared once again leaving faint traces of his element behind and appeared in another computer room.

'_This isn't funny…_' he thought looking around. "Xejicka?!" he called out. "Where are you?!" he knew something was wrong, something in his gut told him, and it wasn't the chicken that made him feel like that.

The _Savage Fighter_ walked towards the screen of the computer and tried to type in a couple of things while wondering where the two of them were. He pressed the 'enter' button and noticed a little sprite of Xejicka on the screen grinning and then sticking out their tongue, with the words 'the little fruity fighter'. Within seconds of the little display the screen started to distort and soon the screen turned off by itself. Nusvext grown and punched the screen with brute force and felt ticked off right on cue.

"That freakin' TRAITOR!" he yelled out in frustration. The element within his body caused the other computer screens to distort, and electricity was crackling around the area. He left the area and reappeared back in front of Xauqa and she noticed the angry look on his face.

"What---?"

"I've got to clear something… Don't eat without me, okay?" with that Nusvext picked up his discarded coat and black gloves, and placed it over him once more. Xauqa could sense something else that was troubling him, but she didn't want to say anything.

"So much for the party…" she said standing up and dusting herself off, she picked up the coat that was one a plain white chair in the corner of the room. With that Nusvext disappeared mumbling something, and it caught her off guard as she placed on black glove on her hand.

**With Ames**

Abedo walked forward and pulled out Soul Eater, letting it touch Dark's neck. '_Stupid replica…_' Dark thought and jumped back pulling out the black coated Keyblade. Light reacted in the same way and pulled out his Keyblade as well. Abedo laughed slightly and shook his head.

"I just want the girl…" the replica said motioning his hand to the girl before him. Dark growled once more and gripped her weapon tightly, bringing it in front of her and the replica. Ames tried to step forward to avoid the battle that would ensue, but the replica stretched out his arm to get her to stop moving. "You said so yourself once Ames, you wanted to be someone…" his blue eyes looked back at Dark. "This is the only way that you can be _someone_…"

Dark blocked an attack from the blade, and tried to push the replica away from her. Light ran forward and gave Dark the extra strength to move the replica back, and she sighed in relief. Abedo jumped into the air and brought his weapon down, and the other two performed a dodge roll in the knick of time, avoiding the devastating below. The replica picked himself up and noticed the small crater from the impact of the attack he used. Dark growled for a moment and pulled out another keychain, and this time she decided to wield two Keyblades.

The girl ran forward and locked her weapon with the 'Soul Eater' of the replica, and used her legs and the strength from her arms to push forward. Light stood back ready to heal her, or provide some magical attack spells. Abedo strained a bit under the weight of the force, and bent his leg down slightly, but that was all she needed. She raised the new Keyblade once more and brought it down again, letting it connect with the 'Soul Eater'. Abedo jumped back, and from the corner of his eye he saw something flying right towards him. He felt a part of his arm become stiff with a sudden touch of coldness wrap around his right arm. He moved back and Dark was about to hit the side of shoulder, but she stopped. '_I can't kill him…_' she thought and pulled back.

"You're weak…" the replica said taking the opportunity and she felt his left hand grasp her throat. "You don't deserve to call yourself the original…"

"Dark!" Light yelled out running forward with his weapon ready at hand. Ames stepped in quickly and Light stopped.

"Stop it, Abedo…" she noticed that the grip around Dark's neck was getting a bit tighter. "STOP!" she yelled out, and the replica's eyes widened. "Just stop it…" Ames said walking forward. The replica in front of her fell to his knees, and his eyes were slowly dimming. Dark coughed, and pulled back away from the replica, and felt her Keyblades slowly slide away, skimming across her fingertips as they landed on the tiles of the floor with a loud clatter.

The teens looked at the fallen replica, and noticed that he had stopped moving. '_He's dead…_' Ames thought looking down at the dim blue eyes; they didn't reflect any life in them.

"Aw, isn't that just terrible…" a voice was heard echoing through the area, and they noticed that some electrical showers were starting to appear in the form of a body, and quickly a foot stepped out of the electricity. Ames felt someone place a firm hand on her shoulder, and her eyes widened slightly. '_Chicken…_' she thought smelling a faint trace of the cooked bird. She looked up and noticed a familiar blonde individual and looked away. Nusvext sighed for a moment and looked back at Dark and Light. "You went and broke his spirit…" he looked at the fallen replica once more, "Okay, so it's more like you _**smashed**_ it to be honest…"

'_I knew this was going to happen, but then, why am I still in shock?_' Ames asked herself within the sanctuary of her mind.

**With Ruxsud**

Rax fell forward once more, from a devastating punch knocking the wind out of him. Ruxsud watched as something fell from the pocket of the younger member's coat, and he picked it up, several key chains were tied together on a string and he decided to transport them through a dark portal he created right on the spot. Rax looked up, his blue eyes burning with rage.

"Don't…" he called out weakly, trying to stand up once more, but it was no use, the key chains he had taken from Light were gone. Ruxsud pulled back noticing that the younger and former member was standing up once more, with his weapons ready at hand. He ran forward and slashed through the air. Ruxsud felt the pressure around him change, and brought his large tomahawk forward, to protect himself from the gust projection, it made a small crack on his red and black tomahawk and he brought the large weapon down against the ground, making the earth under their feet shift once more.

'_What was he doing with those things…?_' Ruxsud asked himself watching Rax leap, at that point Ruxsud swung his tomahawk forward, and watched as Rax moved back through the air as he connected with the weapon. '_He's losing his touch…_' number 5 thought running forward, and slamming him down to the ground.

**With Xejicka**

Something from within the pocket of her black coat was moving and she pulled out the little black cell phone. Flames decorated the out cover of it and a flashing screen with the name 'Xehart' dancing about the small panel. She chuckled and answered it, hearing the voice of a familiar friend.

"Ah, Ms. Flurry of the Dancing Flames," Xehart said chuckling. "How are things on your end?"

"Just as the girl said…" Xejicka said leaning against one of the white colored pillars. "So that means you got the warning too?"

"She sent me one before this whole mess started… those journals of hers are pretty helpful." Xehart said he sounded amazed.

"There's another presence around there…" Xejicka said softly, and looked down at the ground before her. She could feel something shake her slightly. "I think Ruxsud is having some fun with our guest…"

"Guest?" Xehart asked.

"Yeah, Ames…she…" Xejicka paused, deciding it was better that he didn't know. "Anyway I'll be coming back home in a while, so don't wait up, okay?"

"Don't get yourself killed now, okay?" with that Xehart clicked off, and Xejicka placed her flame decorated cell phone back into her coat pocket and whistled her own version of '_Fly me to the Moon_'. Number 8 walked down the hallway and did a little shuffle as she whistled through the empty hallway. Things were looking up for her today. '_Now I just have to wait again, what fun…_' she thought sarcastically and looked around. Light and Dark were still taking their precious time getting through the annoying obstacle. '_At least they'll get rid of the fruit…_' she chuckled.

**A/N:** You know what to do _**one**_ review please!


	11. XI

**A/N**: Thank to my readers and reviewers!

**Aina Loneheart:** It's nice hearing from you again! Thank you very much for your review Aina. I know that Light and Dark are a bit shallow, but things clear up in this chapter, as for the other members, if you want me to I will send you their profile, just PM me when you have a question about the member, or the story in general.

**Rozen-senpai:** How have you been friend? I'm still awaiting your PM on your version of the 'Compass of Chaos and Order' to get everything started.

**Xejicka:** Hey buddy, what's up? Hopefully you have fun at school, I'm going to be here bored out of my mind… Anyway thanks for the inspiration over the past couple of days, you're a pal! Hey quick question, where'd you find the age at where the Keyblade wielders are at their ripest?

And with that, on with the story!

**Chapter 11: Memórias em pedaços**(Memories in pieces)

"What-What did," Dark paused noticing the replica had stopped moving, "what did you do, Ames?" she asked trying hard not to feel sick. '_Is he really dead?_' she asked herself and looked slightly at Light. The young boy shook his head, '_there's nothing we can do…_' he told her. Nusvext looked at the replica and noted the lifeless look that was etched on the fallen figure's face.

Nusvext, the _Savage Fighter_, or the 'fruity kid' by Xejicka's standards, couldn't help but laugh. The blonde teen with blue eyes crouched down holding his stomach and laughed till he couldn't breathe anymore, and he felt tears forming. "I guess…" he coughed trying to control his voice, "…you didn't tell them everything, did you?" he asked slowly rising up, "not even half of it…"

Light placed both of his hands on Dark's shoulders, and the girl, as well as the boy, was confused. "I see," Nusvext continued, "you don't want them to hate you, but…" he leaned forward whispering gently into Ames' ear, "I'll be glad to tell them for you, so thanks." His blue eyes looked back at Light and then to Dark, "If we were to tell you everything our plans would still be in one piece…" he moved back and patted the little witch on the head, "oh, come on, don't stand there looking so innocent, little witch."

Dark watched the girl with silver hair, and noticed that Ames looked away from their gaze and down at the white ground. Nusvext sighed and looked at Dark once in a while as he continued to speak:  
"The reason you've been forgetting since you set foot in Amber Pacific, and in Castle Oblivion, is all due to good ol' Ames," the girl in the plain black dress felt a hand on her shoulder, "she can manipulate your memories through the bond the two of you share… She's a part of you Dark, she's your shadow, so thank her. But anway she can draw new memories…"

Dark tried to run forward, but she felt a pair of hands grab her arms, Light was holding back his companion as she tried desperately to get to Ames. The _Savage Fighter_ found that comical and laughed once more:  
"That replica, he was created by Shimasax," he pointed to the lifeless body, "and Xauqa was going to rat him out the old geezer since the replica failed its mission." He went on to say that everything they came to find was a complete waste of time, because everything they thought they knew was just on big fat lie.

"A… lie?" the other two asked, they couldn't believe it. Nusvext chuckled, it was apparent that he was enjoying it to the fullest. The looks on their faces made him grin slightly. For a moment he noticed Light's blue eyes and brown hair, and felt chills run down his spine. '_You could pass off to be his little brother,_' he thought as his multiple kunai appeared in the grasp of his knuckles

"Oh come on you two, don't look at me like that," he said, shaking his head for a moment. "Just give it some time you guys, and you'll forget about this soon enough." With that the Light and Dark noticed a flash of metallic reflecting off of a new type of lamination, it was electricity circling around the kunai. Ames flinched slightly feeling some of the effect of standing too close to Nusvext, and he frowned for a moment eyeing Ames slightly.

'_At least… the real you is with her…_' the little witch thought sadly. This was Nusvext's plan all along, he just wanted to leave. '_I guess part of you wasn't corrupted after all, but is death really the answer?_' she asked herself, fidgeting around with the logic of it all. Nusvext ran forward, and watched as two Keyblades met up with him. Ames decided that, that was her cue to move the replica and herself away from the battle. '_I don't want to get electrocuted!_' she thought frantically before moving the replica. The three fighters stopped quickly, and watched Ames for a moment moving the replica's body from harms way.

**Donald and Goofy **

"Thundaga!" the mage quaked, and the element brought several Shadow type of Heartless down to the faint traces of black mist. A shield cut through the air and knocked back several flying Heartless. Goofy took re-possession of his shield and looked back at the mage giving the blue clothed duck a thumbs-up. "Firaga!" the mage said loudly, sending several Heartless down with the massive fireball conjured from the tip of his staff. That was the last of them in the area. Goofy relaxed for a moment and looked in back of him, no Heartless in sight for now.

The two of them opened the door and it led to another white hallway. '_Again?_' Donald thought and sighed, he was getting tired. Goofy was as well, but he didn't want to complain so much, he just wanted to help his other friends. To the Donald and Goofy this place seemed more than familiar, but they couldn't remember why exactly.

Donald tapped his Mage Staff and looked around trying to clear his thoughts for a moment. He huffed and puffed to keep his breathing under control from the previous fight, and sighed looking back at Goofy. The tall shield bearing soldier poked around another doorway and frowned for a moment:

"It's another white room," he said looking back at his short companion. "Hey Donald, you think King Mickey's going to be all right by himself?"

"Yeah…" the mage known as Donald replied, nodding. "What I still don't get is **_why_** she didn't contact us sooner?" he was thing back to the letter addressed to the royal mouse.

"Huh?" Goofy's shoe crossed the threshold of the open doorway and he poked his nose into the open area, scoping the area. "It's just another plain old white room, just like last time…" Goofy noticed that Donald was talking to himself. "Hey Donald… Don't cha think we should run after them now, we've rested long enough."

"I know… I'm just remembering the promise we made a while back," the stubborn mage said. "To stick with the Keyblade wielder." He looked back up at Goofy. "We never should've let them go alone…"

"But Donald…" Goofy paused. "They…"

"Still, I can't help but think what if they've already forgotten about us? What if they've already lost their way?"

Goofy put on a cheerful face and tried to get Donald out of his little dilemma. "Then as friends, we're going to help them. I know you care about them a lot Donald." Goofy and Donald walked forward and found the doorway they were looking for. Just straight ahead of them their two long lost friends would be waiting for them.

**With Rax **

A tomahawk went airborne and Rax moved as fast as he could, trying hard to use the broken earth to his advantage. He ducked behind a broken pillar and panted for a moment feeling another tremor underneath him; Ruxsud was determined to bring him back at any cost, even if it meant destroying their home. Rax moved forward once more, using a free hand to jump over the broken pillar, and run straight forward towards te slightly taller figure. Rax's eyes widened as he felt something connect with his stomach, '_damn…_' he thought watching his own body get thrown back. '_I'm not going to lose!_' he thought blocking the force of the tomahawk this time, bring his fake Keyblade into play this time.

He found his hidden strength and pushed back the tomahawk, and managed to bring Ruxsud down to his knees for a slight second. The _Silent Hero_ picked himself up and jumped into the air, Rax threw his fake Keyblade into the air, in number 5's direction, and he blocked it, just as Rax had anticipated. From a distance King Mickey watched the familiar figure fight to the fullest, and it made him smile slightly. Rax learned in that instance to block the force of the tomahawk by mimicking a similar reaction command when he fought Dusk Nobodies. '_Ruxsud's extra training paid off…_' the younger member thought grinning.

'_I'm going to fight for as long as I can, to protect my friends…_' Rax thought as he blocked one of Ruxsud's punches with his preferred Keyblade. Ruxsud jumped back and grinned. "You've decided to get serious now…" the _Silent Hero_ said and ran forward, and Rax took the advance as well, and with a surge of power, the two opposing blows from the opposing attacks collided head on, and the one lone audience member gripped on tightly trying hard not to lose his footing from far away. The tomahawk and both weapons from Rax's side flew out of their masters' hands, and the two of them were left panting. He saw that Ruxsud moved forward with incredible speed and a fist came straight his way. Rax moved to the side, and narrowly avoided the attack, and with that the young member grabbed his arm, and tried to flip him over, he failed to notice the other punch, and he soon felt something smash into the side of his skull.

Rax feel forward, and noticed that his coat was torn slightly, and he scowled at the sight for a moment. His blue eyes moved towards the discarded tomahawk, he asked himself whether he could carry it, but it was a risk he was willing to take. Rax ran forward, jumping over the _Silent Hero_ and made it just in time to grasp the handle of the tomahawk. The weight was tremendous, and the younger member wondered how Ruxsud could carry it with one hand. He pushed off the weapon slightly with quick force, and grasped the handle tightly. '_Please let this work…_' he prayed silently, and put his whole weight into it.

Ruxsud watched with interest, and grinned. '_He's grown up so much… we should've really thanked her…_' he thought and ran forward; ready to take back his weapon. Rax struggled and felt his whole body under a surge of tremendous weight. '_Don't give up…_' Rax told himself and felt the weapon finally rise into the air. '_Just one hit,_' Rax thought moving his whole body in the opposite direction. Ruxsud watched as Rax finally had the weapon in the air. Rax's blue eyes locked with his opponents green eyes. '_One hit,_' the teen thought, and felt a sudden pressure of gravity on his arms.

"THIS IS IT!" the younger one yelled out loudly.

Ruxsud dove forward, and as the tomahawk was about connect with his shoulder, he moved in the knick of time. Rax's blue eyes widened at the sudden movement, and felt another blow on his ribs. His hands still tried desperately to move the tomahawk blade forward. '_Not like this!_' Rax thought and felt his hands slowly lose grip on the weapon. '_NO!_' and soon he found himself falling backward, and the red and black coated weapon was raised above his head. '_REFLECTAGA!'_ The teen thought urgently and soon a thin seemingly transparent barrier covered Rax, and the tomahawk ricocheted back, sending Ruxsud in reverse.

King Mickey watched from a safe distance, and felt his heart beat relax for a moment. '_But he's got to fight him on his own…_' the King thought. '_If she's truly helping in the repetition of the past I shouldn't intervene just yet… I do hope that Sora and Amaterasu are all right._'

The barrier around the _Key of Destiny_ fell apart, and an explosion occurred from the broken defensive spell. He took the opportunity and summoned back his Keyblade and decided to jab the weapon forward. The tomahawk wielder stood up and felt something sting the side of his leg. '_From the blast…_' the _Silent Hero_ deduced, but that wasn't going to slow him down. From the dust that picked up Ruxsud saw Raxter move forward in a sluggish manner, '_little guy's getting tired…_' he thought, and sighed as he blocked the attack of the Keyblade. '_But so am I…_' The two were bleeding and their breathing was slightly ragged, but minor scarps and bruises weren't going to stop these two, not by a long shot.

**Nusvext and the others **

"Light, Dark!" Ames cried out from the sidelines. Dark was thrown back ruthlessly as several kunai pinned her against a wall. Light had jumped into the air to try and steer clear of the metallic weapons, but Nusvext could control them with ease, their trajectory was more than perfect. Electricity was brimming within the weapons, as that was Nusvext preferred style of element, and with hasty speed he threw another pair of the shocking kunai towards Light, trying to get him to fall. Dark struggled to break free, and did so successfully but at the cost of cuts on her arms and legs; she felt something and flinched back against the wall as her feet touched the ground. '_Static?_' she asked herself.

Dark lifted up her Keyblade once more and ran forward. Light was thrown down to the ground, and he suffered a wound from one of the kunai, as his shoulder and right arm were bleeding. Nusvext turned around quickly and watched as Dark ran forward, with her Keyblade starting to glow slightly. '_Fire…_' the blonde thought and smirked. '_Should be fun…_' Nusvext threw a kunai in her path, and she dodged it moving to the side gracefully. The _Savage Fighter_ ran forward and brought his fist up in a slashing motion, and an indescribable pain voyaged from her sides, and upper left arm. Light picked himself up quickly when he noticed that Dark had fallen down, and Nusvext felt something hit him across the back.

Nusvext flipped over, and looked up noticing that Light had the key shaped weapon hovering over his head. '_He can't kill me with that approach…_' Nusvext thought and gripped the Keyblade tightly, sending a thunder spell through the metal, and Light flinched back. With that the _Savage Fighter_ took no time and delivered a good blow to Light, and knocked the boy backwards, with more cuts on his arm. Dark clutched her side, and stood up weakly feeling her hunger kick in. '_Damn, this isn't good…_' she thought and noticed that Ames was starting to move.

'_What is she…?!_' Dark felt a bead of sweat fall down the side of her face, the kunai were dangerously close to her face. A quick to the stomach and she was down once more, and Light tried to stand up once more, but Nusvext had his hand pinned, he was stepping on it with some force, keeping his hand and Keyblade pinned to the ground. Light couldn't get his hand free, and the pain was too much for him. _'He's too strong…_' Light thought hearing something click within his heart.

"Are you two even trying?" Nusvext asked, burying his boot further into Light's hand. He heard the teen cry out in pain.

"Stop it!" the other two females cried out, they couldn't stand it at all.

"Well… I can understand your lack of motivation…" he looked back at Ames. "I mean finding out your name and memories were taken away by a girl you **_thought_** you were suppose to protect can do that to a guy…" Nusvext chuckled. "But she was deceiving you all along, you were her little puppets all along, and now the two of you are all alone."

'_Even if this is supposed to happen… Even if it already did happen under different circumstances, it's too much…_' the witch thought feeling some tears run the side of her face. "Stop it Nusvext, stop!" she cried out and ran forward. "Stop!" the little witch in the plain black dress said. "STOP IT!" Ames said getting in between Light and three kunai.

Nusvext stopped the assault quickly, letting the kunai distance themselves from the girl's face by two millimeters. "Stop…" she gulped, "please, Nusvext stop…"

"…" Nusvext noticed the tears falling down on her face. '_If Rax saw this he would kick my ass…_' the 'Savage Fighter' thought. "Pardon me? But I think it's a bit too late to go back on your word…" Nusvext leaned forward and whispered, "Just let me finish this…"

'_Why? Why do you want to die that badly?_' she asked herself, looking in the blue seemingly lifeless eyes of Nusvext the _Savage Fighter_. "Now…" Nusvext raised his kunai, "get out of my way!" he said, and Ames felt something break the skin of her arm, and she was thrown back.

" AMES!" Light and Dark called out. Dark stood up weakly, and noticed that Nusvext was moving the weight on his body, he was going to move once more. '_He's going to step back soon…_' the teen thought.

"Why should you worry about her, **_Light_**?" Nusvext asked watching Ames pick herself up slightly. '_Sorry about that…_' he thought, and looked down at Light and smirked. "You were never her friend, you can't really say she had any…" it was a lie to Nusvext and several other members, but those two Keyblade wielding teens didn't need to know the real truth, not at this moment anyway. Light sighed for a moment stilling trying to move but Nusvext had him pinned. He searched the inside of his heart and thought about the memory, it was starting to get distorted. '_But I promised…_' he thought, and finally Nusvext stepped back giving Light just enough time to stand up.

"Those memories may be fake…" Dark said weakly, remembering how she promised to take care of Ames. At that moment Nusvext finally stepped back.

"But they are still ours…" Light said slowly picking himself up.

"Huh?!" Nusvext scratched his neck with the tip of one of the kunai and tilted his head slightly. "You guys are both broken records…" he said softly and sighed. "Weren't you listening?"

Ames watched the event unfold before her very eyes. '_Just as the artifact predicted…_' she thought sadly now knowing that events to come would unfold in one way or another. The little witch in the black dress sighed. Ames knew perfectly well that the two teens would stay true to those memories, even if they were fake. Dark was a bit more questioning towards the planted memories, she knew her well enough, still it surprised Ames that Dark would defend the memory at this point. '_I always thought you'd abandon me…_'

Nusvext stepped forwards now, going towards Ames, when he jumped back slightly noticing the two teens standing before him. He chuckled and looked in back of them, towards Ames, she looked down at the ground. The young witch had another memory come back to her:  
_"Here…" Sora said pulling out a keychain with a black crown. "I want you to have this," he said giving Amaterasu a noogie on the head. _

_"Oblivion…?" she asked softly noticing the distinct shape of the crown. This Keyblade, if her memory served her right, was one that Riku once used for a brief period of time. The motif, the little symbol was from the pendant that Sora had on his necklace, but it was of a deep rich black color. This meant to her and to the young teen, that it symbolized the corruption of a royal figure. "This… was Riku's…"_

_"Come on, Ammi," Sora said forcing the keychain into her hand. "Cheer up, alright? It's a friendship gift, and if you're going to mope about it…" _

_Amaterasu pulled her hand away before Sora could take back the keychain. "But, why Sora?" she asked letting the keychain rest on her palm. So many secrets were probably hidden within the keychain, it had probably seen its fair share of battles like the other Keyblades of the universe. _

_"Just take it!" he yawned rather loudly. "I get a feeling that you'll need it more than I do. Besides straying in the night must get rather lonely, you need some oblivion to keep you aware at all times…" Sora gave his trademark grin, but he was thinking of something else, she knew that. _

_"You think I can't handle myself in battle?" the dark skinned girl asked, growling for a moment. _

_"No… I never said that." Sora said quickly. _

_"Good…" she said tucking the keychain back into the rear pocket of her jeans. _

The memory faded when she brought herself back into reality. There before Ames, she noticed the devastating Keyblade whose name was synonymous with the words, void, forgetfulness, and nothingness, the title of the weapon was none other than Oblivion. '_It's fitting…_' Ames thought, '_for someone who has forgotten…_' but she knew that was her doing to make them forget.

Nusvext growled and discarded the kunai. He grabbed the two teens by the throat, and grinned. "You guys are getting pretty annoying, I hope you know that." The grip on their necks was getting tighter with each passing word that fell from Nusvext, the _Savage Fighter_'s lips. "Now just give me a couple of seconds, and I'll make you guys disappear, but before I do, just answer me this, why are you going through the trouble?"

"It… may not be apparent…" Dark said letting her hands grip the strong arm of Nusvext, "but whether it be a… fake…" she couldn't continue losing air like this.

"We won't go back on what we've said…" Light said softly, it was almost a weak whisper.

"You guys are so pathetic!" Nusvext said laughing, watching their pained faces. "It's kind of sad making you two disappear, it's been fun, but now…" an object cut through the air at neck breaking speed, and it his its desired object, sending Nusvext backwards, clutching the side of his head in pain.

"He got you two pretty bad, huh?" a rather goofy sounding voice said.

"Curaga!" a voice quaked out loudly, and in an instant a green warming light enveloped both Light and Dark in an instant. Dark and Light gasped for air suddenly, and looked at the two new coming figures. Ames watched for a moment, feeling happier than before. '_Hey got my letter,_' she thought, and her mind was at ease for now.

A small mage dressed in blue walked forward with his staff at hand, and a taller looking knight appeared in suite right behind his vertically challenged companion. Dark grabbed the discarded shield, and felt happy for some reason, and Light laughed looking at the two newcomers.

"Looks like you guys could use some help." The mage said walking forward.

"Isn't that right…" the taller knight noticed that Ames shook her head, "…Light and Dark?" the knight said quickly picking up his mid-sentence.

"Donald, Goofy…" Light and Dark said in unison, smiling happily. The taller knight and the small mage ran forward, and Dark handed the shield back to the knight. Light caught a glimpse of the design and noticed that the mouse like image seemed all too familiar.

"Grr…" Nusvext felt a bump on the side of his head, and it got him a bit ticked off. '_The King's lackeys…_' he thought. "I hate to break up the sentimental reunion…" he pulled out his kunai once more, "but we've a battle to continue!"

"Take this!" the one by the name of Donald yelled. "Blizzaga!" and from the tip of his Mage's Staff a powerful ice attack zipped through the air. Nusvext spun around slightly to the side, but the ice based attack managed to grab the sleeve of his right arm. The blonde hared fighter sighed and placed a small Thunder spell on the sleeve of his Organization XIII coat, breaking apart the frozen piece of ice.

"You'll have to do better than that…" Nusvext said.

"Then… take this!" Light said running forward. "Thunder Raid!" he yelled, summoning a huge amount of thunder to go through the tip of Kingdom Key. Light threw the Keyblade forward with enough force, and grinned watching it come into contact with Nusvext.

'_You'd think he'd learn by now…_' Nusvext thought, pretending to yell out in pain. Dark rushed forward with her two Keyblade at hand now, and brought Nusvext down to the ground, the _Savage Fighter_ grabbed her Keyblade before it collided with him, and she called out Thunder just as he had hoped she would.

"Thunder doesn't work on me!" Nusvext said suddenly disappearing from Dark's view. She turned around as fast as she could, but she couldn't react fast enough now. Someone called out 'Reflectaga' a powerful defensive spell, and she was watched as a thin barrier of light formed around her.

Dark moved back, and caught up to Light and the others. Nusvext grinned and threw the kunai, and was pleased to see the figures dodged them. The blue and yellow colored kunai stuck out like a sore thumb in the white area, and it was perfect for the _Savage Fighter_. Donald Duck, the mage dressed in blue pointed out to Nusvext that he missed by a mile, and Nusvext the blonde hared fighter with blue eyes grinned. He had other kunai safely hidden behind him with his other hand, and at once discharged some of the electricity he had stored within his body.

"Move away!" Ames cried out, knowing the attack all to well. "Get away!" she cried out loudly. It was too late though, as the four figures felt electricity enter their bodies from the other neighboring kunai around the white walls. Dark was the first to fall, and her Keyblades disappeared back into the sanctuary of her pockets. '_I'm getting tired…_' she thought, struggling to push herself forward once more. Something in the back of her head told her not to tire herself out.

Light felt his knee connect with the white tiled floor, and he bent forward slightly, using his Keyblade to pick himself up. The other two, Donald and Goofy were already up, and helping Dark to her feet. This battle was going to be difficult that was no joke. Nusvext was enjoying this very much, as was his corrupted nature. He watched for a moment as electricity was dancing about him, and he used his fingertips to move the current of electrical energy into a ball.

He spoke:  
"That was a bit too much of a charge," Nusvext informed the warriors, "you guys could just about power up a washing machine, or a hair dyer and a microwave at the same time!" he said making a cruel joke.

"You jerk!" Light yelled out furiously, and ran forward.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy called out. Something in Light's heart clicked, and Ames felt her eyes grow wide. '_If he figures it out right now…_' Ames was afraid of the outcome. Light looked back at Donald and Goofy, and felt something, but he couldn't understand what it was.

"Light, look out!" Dark yelled, as Nusvext was moving forward. She ran forward recovering from the shock. '_He's going to…_' she pushed her legs forward, and everything seemed to move slowly in her mind. Dark pushed the blue eyed teen from the path of the kunai attack, but she suffered the attack. Light skidded against the white tile, and watched blood stain the pure white tiles. "You idiot…" Dark muttered, wincing in pain, the kunai had left a deep wound in her left arm, and on her back.

"Firaga!" Light summoned the fire ball from the tip of his Keyblade, and Donald the mage followed with a Blizzaga spell to collide with the fire ball just before it impacted with Nusvext. In an instance with the combination of ice and fire created a slightly moisture in the air, damp, as if it were raining. Dark grinned closing her eyes, this was her turn to wait the battle out. '_Knock him dead, Sora…_' her words echoed into his head.

"Now!" Ames ordered noticing that Nusvext had been taken a back. Light ran forward with his Keyblade at hand, and tightened his grip feeling the weapon connect. Nusvext felt his body twitch with the moisture in the air, and the Keyblade had pierce through his flesh. '_Good job, kid…_' Nusvext thought falling backward, and Light recoiled his hand feeling electrical energy surge through the handle of his weapon.

The Keyblade lodged into Nusvext's stomach, unknown to the wielder, and the _Savage Fighter_ closed his eyes welcoming death finally. '_Thanks, Sora…_' he thought letting a faint smile etch onto his face.

"Sora…" Nusvext said, straining to speak. "Thanks… Just tell…" he groaned feeling blood fall from the corner of his mouth, "tell Xauqa… That I went back…" Ames watched from behind the scene, noticing that Nusvext's frame was starting to break down, and all that became of him were the several sparks he left behind, he had disappeared in the form of electricity.

"So…ra…" the name sounded very foreign to Light, but something in his heart told him something else. "Dark!" Light ran forward, and slid his knees onto the floor, hovering over her. "Dark!" he called out to her, she wasn't waking up.

Ames placed a gently hand on the replica's face, and sighed. "I caused you some pain as well, and I'm sorry…" she said and gave a small silent prayer. "You won't be needing this though, Abedo, but I'm grateful that you kept it safe." She pulled the pendant away from the chain on the belt, and watched the fabricated piece disappear. Ames walked over towards, Donald and Goofy, and expressed words of thanks to the two knights.

The girl strode over towards Light and Dark, and placed a gentle hand on Light's shoulder:  
"She's just tired…" the girl spoke softly, "Sora…"

"That's my true, name isn't it?" he asked looking up at the blue eyed girl before him. She nodded, and looked guilty of a crime of some sort, but that would have explained at a later time. She heard something like a beast growl, and looked around. "That's my stomach." the boy known as Sora now, said softly, he was a bit embarrassed that his stomach growled loudly.

"Ammi's coming around!" Ames heard Goofy exclaim and she didn't think twice about coming to her aid. Goofy moved towards the side and let Ames do her 'thing', by placing her hands on the cuts, letting a Curaga spell lessen the extent of the wounds.

"A… Ames…" the girl said softly, breathing through the pain of the slightly closed wounds. "You're safe…" she said softly smiling through the pain.

"Thanks, Amaterasu." Ames said smiling, feeling her eyes water up for some reason. Amaterasu, as she was now called, sat up, holding her injured arm. "You guys are probably hungry, right?" she asked. "I can take up to a room that's not too far from here, there's some food there…"

Goofy helped Amaterasu up, and Donald and Sora walked behind Ames as she placed her hand on one of the white walls of the area. It disappeared in the presence of a dark aura, and it led to somewhere else. Ames told them that she was going to say behind to take care of the replica, and informed them that the pathway was going to be open until they stepped back into this area once more.

"Once you guys are done eating, go directly to the next floor, where the castle's administrator is waiting for you all. If you should defeat that person, Xauqa, you should be able to get the answers you've been looking for… Sora, and you too, Amaterasu." Ames said bowing slightly, feeling the tears fall down silently.

"Cheer up, Ames!" Sora said forcing her to smile, pinching the sides of her cheeks. It was still strange to him, to her his real name echo through his mind, but he made the effort of embracing it. "Come, on smile!"

"You'll see," Amaterasu began, grinning. "It'll be a-okay!" she tried to be strong for herself. "Hey, are you sure you're not hungry?" she asked.

Ames shook her head. "It's okay Ammi, you need food more than I do, so hurry up!" she said pushing them through the portal, and that was that for now.

The girl in the plain black dress walked down the hallway thinking back to the event the had just unfolded, she felt no remorse for the fallen Nusvext, instead she felt more than overjoyed that he was finally gone, to a place where she knew they would one day meet. '_Terra, he's gone back…_' she tried to let her voice echo through that person's mind, whether or not it was heard, she would find out once the journey would cease to exist, and soon another one would come along. '_These two have had it rather rough, but the price for beauty pays dearly…_' she thought smirking. 'Beauty' was, in this moment and time, was the element known as 'light' that the people of universe so desperately sought out.

"There you are…" a female voice exclaimed, and the fait scent of wildflowers filled Ames' nose. The silver hared teen turned around slightly, noticing the faint strands of blue hair creep from the corner of her eyes. "How have you been, Ames?"

"Xauqa…" Ames, the silver hared teen in the black plain dress, addressed the administrator in a very calm voice. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I became ever so bored of waiting…" Xauqa said rolling her eyes in that oh so manner of hers. "Where's Nusvext?" she asked softly noticing that the room was empty.

"You should know better than anyone else…" Ames said softly noticing the shocked eyes of the blue eyed member, Xauqa. "He's dead, just like I predicted, and soon you shall too…"

"Dead…?" the eleventh member of the organization couldn't help but reiterate the status of the former member. "They… killed him?!" she screamed. "You didn't do anything!" she yelled furiously at the witch, roughly holding her by the throat. "You stupid little girl!"

"Enough!" Ames yelled, pushing Xauqa's grip away from her throat. The silver hared youth coughed, breathing heavily. "Just stop… He knew… He knew it would happen eventually, face it, _Graceful Assassin_." Her speech was enough to kill her on the spot, but Xauqa knew better than to let personal feelings get the better of her. "But… I know he didn't want to go… you could tell in his eyes."

The female before her scoffed and looked away, towards the blood stains that still lingered behind from the battle that had ended moments ago. To the _Graceful Assassin_ it was better that she arrived later than earlier at this point. Nusvext was gone, and she had to accept that fact whether she wanted to or not, the young witch before her made it very clear.

"I don't want to fade just yet…" the female member made it very clear to the silver hared youth that was the female teen before her vision. "There were a lot of things I wanted to do…"

"So did he, but he was glad… He may have been corrupted soon after he joined alongside you and Rax, but…" the teen paused for a moment. "You and him… did you really-?"

"Come on…" Xauqa said softly, cutting the witch in mid-sentence. "It's better you didn't know, let's go put on your _play_." With that Ames felt a gloved hand over her mouth, and her body started to grow heavy. "I guess you're right, and I should welcome death like he did…" the _Graceful Assassin_ sighed, coming to the bright side of it all. " At least we'll see each other on the other side, Ames."

**With Rax **

The weapon with no keychain was embedded into the flesh of the one who moved the earth. Ruxsud was finally defeated so to speak, which was good for the former member known as number 13. Rax panted taking off his trademark black coat, and resting it against a broken slab of earth.

Ruxsud was grinning slightly as his final seconds on earth were coming to an end:  
"You should've come back to us…" the silver hared individual said, his green eyes looking at the one who carried eyes as blue as the sky. "You have…" the _Silent Hero_ strained as her picked himself up, with his trademark weapon, "you have so much potential to wield the darkness… Terra…"

"It's not my position to fill…" he responded softly, walking forward, pulling the weapon out of Ruxsud's chest. These 'soulless' as he had come to know, passed on like regular humans, as in they ate, they bled, they died.

"If you see, Xiaga, ask him if he can forgive me, for failing…" those were the last words of number 5. With that, the brown hared youth noticed that once the figure passed away, pieces of earth gathered to signal the 'grave' of the fallen person who controlled that specific element. The tomahawk broke down into little crystals, and they scattered and exploded about the area in a display that Rax could only describe as 'astonishing'.

From a safe distance the royal mouse was able to breathe in calmly, noticing that the fight was finally over for now. If he knew the turn of events, Terra needed to go through two more people and his own personal demons before he could finally rest. '_Something tells me that those two are fine…_' King Mickey thought referring to the two people that Donald and Goofy met up with.

**In ****Destiny** **Islands**

A strange looking blonde hared teen, washed up on the shore of a place he was unaware of. It struck him as strange to have his hands grasp on to something so loose, like the grains of sand that welcomed his sense of touch. '_This isn't Sunset Horizons…_' the blonde hared teen thought picking himself up, he felt a pain hit his stomach, and it was enough to bring him down to his knees for a brief period of time. His blue eyes looked up at the clear sky above his head, and he groaned shaking his head in disappointment. '_I was supposed to go home…_'

The youth's name, if he could even recall it, had one syllable that seemed comforting to his mind, which could put him at ease. He heard the wave break apart in back of him, and for a moment he heard a gentle voice call out his name. '_Ven…_' he grinned. '_Well, if you're going to appear here then, I might as well wait for you._'

In the distance a young female teen with red wine colored hair and a young teen with silver hair were watching the shore for a familiar figure, but what they saw wasn't what they were expecting. There was a young boy who looked oddly familiar, and he wore black pants and a faded amber and black shirt. Discarded towards his side was a black coat that appeared fairly new. '_Roxas?_' the two teens in the distance thought, but it didn't really seem like him at all.

The figure who sat in the sand, went by the name of Ven for now. He sat there hearing the sounds of the ocean before him, and taking in the new scent of the ocean breeze. This wasn't his original home, but he would treat it as such for when his friend arrived. '_Just like I promised,_' he thought turning his head slightly. He could feel the presence of others in the distance, and he noticed that the two individuals walked away, trying to get back to their daily routine.

"Well Ventus…" he began to speak to himself. "Better get use to this place…" he picked up his black coat, and stood up, hearing his boots make a distinct _clink_ sound from the metal buckles. "I know she'll love it though…" Ventus' blue eyes looked towards the side, and a dog with different fur color, unlike any he had seen, was wandering the shoreline, and quickly ran back to the teen with silver hair.

_"Wait what do you mean, we're incomplete?" he asked one of the hooded members. He seemed oddly familiar. _

_"Your bodies are in another dimension… as for your heart…" the figure began to speak. _

The memory was too distorted to piece together. To him it felt like he had taken a long nap somewhere. He knew for right now that his memories were still trying to chain themselves within his heart, but it would be a slow process.

_"Hey Ventus… don't ever change, okay?" a young girl smiled after she finished her sentence. She had a kind smile, and a soothing voice. _

_"Why would I change?" he asked her, to which she replied with a frown. _

Ventus shook his head, and walked further and further away from the beach, finally coming to a sidewalk. "But I wonder where you'll land…" he asked himself, looking up at the clear blue sky, white clouds moved wherever the wind blew.

**With Donald and Goofy **

"How did you two get here anway?" Amaterasu asked, sitting on one of the white chairs near a uniformed colored table. Goofy was biting into an apple, and Donald was eating some cake he found in a refrigerator. The two of them explained that they followed a letter that someone had sent, and that King Mickey was somewhere downstairs with another friend.

"Do you guys know Ames?" Sora asked biting into a small pastry. Amaterasu raised her eyebrow slightly, '_he's eating more sweets?!_' she sighed and chewed on turkey sandwich she had made.

"We don't personally know her…" Donald said scratching his head, he looked back at Goofy, and the taller knight placed his apple down. "A-hyuck. Yeah, the King knows her from his travels."

"Oh…" the two companions said thinking about it for a moment. '_Hey, Dark…_' Sora began to communicate through the mental link, he was still use to that name.

'_I know, L-…I mean, Sora. Old man Brooks was right, I'd never think that it was true but, I guess I was wrong._' Amaterasu sighed looking down at the half eaten sandwich. '_I can't help, but think that this has happened once before…_'

Sora nodded and went back to his sweet bread, biting into it. '_Let's just focus at the important thing, when we get rid of the castle administrator we'll get our answers._'

"Well, you guys… we should get going now." Amaterasu said softly, and stood up once there was nothing on her plate. "We've got some answers to find."

"You know… I'm a bit mad at her…" Sora said putting his hands behind his head. He started to walk forward. "I mean, she had no right to toy with our memories, but… I guess I can understand why she did it…"

"Light…" Amaterasu sighed; the dark skinned girl rolled her eyes, and stepped through the dark portal. "Now hurry up you guys, and Goofy…" she paused, "I don't want you getting lost again."

Goofy and Donald smiled and followed right behind Sora as he disappeared into the darkness of the portal. Amaterasu and Sora walked side by side, thinking of what their strategy would be, once they arrived at their destination. "I really wish, I could remember…" Sora said softly.

"Don't worry…" Amaterasu said patting him on the back. "Once this is over we'll remember everything."

"Still, it's pretty weird hearing our names again, especially yours." He grinned, avoiding a punch from his companion.

"Yeah well, Sora sounds like a girl's name, and so does Terra." She said laughing. '_How is he doing anyway?_' she asked herself, something told her that he was all right, but she couldn't help but worry a bit.

"Hey, Ames we're…back…" Sora stuck his head out of the portal and noticed that no one was in the hallway now. Amaterasu and the other jumped out of the dark portal, and looked around. "She's gone… and so is that other guy…" the brown hared teen said stepping out of the portal.

"I wonder where she went…" Goofy asked himself, and looked around some of the white pillars.

"What if something happened to her?" Amaterasu asked softly, and Sora turned around to look at his dark eyed companion.

"But where do we start looking?" he asked.

"Maybe she's already on the top floor with the administrator…" Donald said, out loud, and he quickly covered his mouth.

"What?!" Sora and Amaterasu felt their mouths open slightly, their eyes on Donald.

"What Donald means, is that, maybe they captured her." Goofy said trying to explain the situation a tad bit differently than his feathered friend.

_"So they're human… but at the same time they're not?" the male couldn't help but ask. _

_"That is correct." A voice from the back of his head answered. "They eat, breathe, and have a heart, but no soul." _

_"But…" his companion sighed hearing that. "That means we're going to be killing people, as in they bleed when they get hit…" the girl said softly. _

_"If the two of you keep thinking like that, you'll be the ones bleeding to death." The voice echoed through the corridors of both of their minds. "But that aside for now, and think of them as Nobodies." _

_"But they have hearts… Which is the thing that Nobodies don't have." The two of them said. _

_"Which is why they are more dangerous…" _

Sora shook his head, and looked back at the others. "Let's get going."

**With Rax **

He leaned against one of the only intact pillars in the area, and something finally reached his heart. "He's gone back…" he smiled and took off his coat for a moment. He was wearing a white shirt, with one lone black stripe running across, and another band of black running down the right side of his shirt. The pants he wore were made out of black material, and white fabric seemed to mimic the style on his shirt. Rax, or Terra, as Ames would call him from time to time, yawned rather loudly, and he looked around feeling a familiar presence in the room.

_"You're… on a journey?" he asked looking at the small mouse. _

_"That's right," the figure said, showing him the Keyblade known as 'Star Seeker'. "As an apprentice of Master Yen Sid." The round eared mouse said proudly. _

_"No kidding…" he said placing his hand on his chin, and thinking. "Master Yen Sid… I think I've heard that name somewhere before…" _

_Something caught his attention, and he sighed. "I guess it'll have to wait." Mickey nodded in agreement to what the young adolescent said, he looked roughly around the age of 18, but no older than 20. _

_"First, we've got to get rid of these Heartless." Mickey said looking at the person before him. "You ready, Terra?" _

_"As ready as I'll ever be!" _

Terra placed a Cure spell on himself and sighed having previous memories of the 'old days' flooding the gates of his mind. This was unexpected of him, but he felt that such memories were needed to pick himself up time like such as these. '_On to the next level…_' he thought looking back at the debris from the pervious fight. "Thanks, Ruxsud…" with that Terra, the former member of Organization 13 called _Key of Destiny_, walked down the broken path of the hallway to another fight. He pushed open the door, and smiled.

"Sunset Horizons…" he whispered to himself.

**A/N:**You know what to do**, _one_** review please!

I've decided to divide the sequel into two parts, this is part one, and part two will be featured in this same story. For those who are familiar with Chain of Memories, you can only imagine that the end is near for part one…

**Little side note:** the title 'Memories in pieces' is a melody featured in KH:CoM, which was the inspiration for this chapter.

And once again, sorry for the typos, I'm not perfect after all, I'm only human.


	12. XII

**A/N:** I want to apologize first of all for making all my readers and reviewers, along with fellow writers alike, wait so long. Terribly sorry.

**Also Chapter 13 will be the end to the first part, so expect the second part to come soon. **

**Sonic13:** Thank you so much for the review, but I don't think SE would make a spinoff or anything of the sort with this story, but I'm flattered. Keep on writing, I want to read more from you, and I'll keep on writing.

**Xejicka:** Thanks for you PM, I'll keep it close to my heart. Plus talking with you has given me some awesome ideas for part two, and chapter 13. Hopefully you can update soon, I'm itching to read your new chapter!

Now on with the story!

**Chapter 12: Coração mostra uma rota **(heart shows a path)

"Light!" the girl tried calling out to him again, but he wasn't paying attention. '_Like always…_' she thought and shook her head. She cupped her hand over her mouth and took in a deep breath. "Sora!"

The individual was looking down at the two pendants that _clinked_ together, still trying to piece together names to go with them, but nothing so far. He looked up slightly and turned his head back, there was his good friend, Dark, or as she now went by, Amaterasu. She called out to him, and he sighed, '_guess it'll have to wait then…_' he thought and walked towards her and the others.

"Hey Sora…" Donald began as all four of them were walking down the hallway.

"What is it, Donald?" he asked breaking away from his previous thought once more.

"Listen up!" the girl right next to him said. Amaterasu sighed, and allowed the blue dressed mage to continue.

"Right…" Donald lost his train of thought, and all eyes were on him. He looked around, and finally it came to him. "We've got to devise a strategy. First of all, we don't even know the administrator's name… and second of all we have no idea what this person is like on the battlefield." Sora looked down at his dusty shoes and sighed, the duck had a point.

"Well…" he paused, looking back at Amaterasu for a moment. "It's not like we can ask now, can we? The only person who knew anything is gone, probably captured by the administrator, and that replica is nowhere to be found. As for a strategy…" Sora continued. "Let's just try and not waste any items…"

"We HAVE no items…" the dark skinned girl said. Sora winced feeling something hit the back of his head. "You wasted them all."

"I still have these!" he rebutted pulling out something from his pocket. The others gathered around and looked at the only two items in his hand, it was reassuring at all.

"An ether… and a hi-potion…" Amaterasu said wrinkling up her nose. "We've got enough munny to buy some more items, but there's no-"

As if right on cue something caught the attention of all four fighters, and they looked off into the distance, a little machine was _whirring_ it's time away. Donald and Goofy had a feeling that this wasn't the first time it had happened, but they couldn't go and spill their guts to the two teens, it was strictly under the King's orders. Sora titled his head, and Amaterasu scratched the back of her head in wonder, and confusion. '_If it's a sign, we'll take it!_' the two of them thought grinning finally.

"This is one REALLY long hallway…" Amaterasu said looking back at the others.

"It's the prelude to the final boss…" the spiky hared teen said, putting his hands in back of his head, and walked forward grinning. "Beating the castle's administrator won't be a walk in the park…"

Amaterasu noticed that Donald and Goofy were already at the little vending machine, pushing buttons like crazy, and putting currency into the machine. "Ammi, you could use a hot drink…" Goofy said. '_You're thirsty, Goofy?_' she chuckled, and told Goofy to pass the drink then.

"After we defeat that person…" Sora said softly, watching Amaterasu and Goofy get some more items, "we'll get our memories back, won't we?"

Donald was watching Amaterasu smile, and something the King said made him wonder. '_The King told us she was a happy girl at one point. I've met her, but not like this, rather as just someone who… doesn't matter now, the King was right, she's a good person._' Donald looked up at Sora, catching the last words that came out of his mouth, with a rather confused look.

"Oh!" Sora caught himself and shook his head. "I'm not doubting Ames at all, but it's just… that if we don't get it back," he looked down scratching the side of his cheek, "I don't know what I'd do."

"It's okay, Sora." Donald said trying to cheer him up a bit. "I felt like that too. When you think about that person, I know it warms your heart, but it's sad, not remembering what kind of person they were. It's really tough, when you lose something precious, and…" the feathered mage tried hard not to explain the events of their prior visit, "…and there's a big hole in our heart."

Amaterasu looked back at Goofy, and he nodded. The two of them were talking about something. "So you guys lost your memories too?" she asked. Goofy nodded, saying that it was when they were looking for King Mickey. To Sora and Amaterasu the name sounded oddly familiar. The spiky hared teen couldn't picture an image to go with the name, but he knew that the King had helped him out. The dark skinned girl on the other hand, felt some sadness when his name was mentioned, as if she had let him down before.

"A-hyuck! Look, look! I won us two free drinks!"

The other three looked up and noticed that Goofy was pulling out something from the white colored vending machine. Amaterasu smiled and patted the taller knight on the back. She congratulated him and looked back at Donald and Sora, giving them a thumbs-up. Donald and Sora sighed in relief and the two of them bought their supplies from the vending machine. The white colored vending machine had the words 'Warm, Potion, Elixirs' on the front of it, with the colors blue, white and red.

"This place is Castle Oblivion where to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. But don't fret; you won't lose anything just because you won a couple of free drinks. Have a good day!" that was what the vending machine said in a loud, female, up beat voice.

"Uh… Okay?" Sora shook his head. '_Hey Dark, is it me, or did that voice sound really familiar?_'

'_You noticed it too?! I thought I was going insane, but yeah. You think it's from the same voice who told us that thing… "to find is to lose, and to lose is to find"… you remember that?_' she asked him within their own personal link. Sora nodded, putting Amaterasu's mind to rest for now.

Sora looked at his tattered fighting gloves, and side, he really was wearing himself out. Anyway he stuck his hand into the little slot and pulled out the free drinks that he had won, and smiled. "We're not going to lose anything. Before we leave this place for good, we're going to find out the answers to our questions." He noticed that the others were right behind him.

"But first…" the dark skinned girl pulled the tab back on her Elixir, "A warm elixir!" Sora and she said in unison chugging the sweet warm drink down.

Goofy sighed, '_they may have lost their memories, but not the special bond between them. That's what I call an unbreakable friendship._'

**With Rax **

He yawned loudly walking through the desert area of a place called Sunset Horizons. This wasn't _the_ real Sunset Horizon, but one created from his memories, and it was almost as good as the real thing. The thing that caught Terra's eyes was the clock tower that signaled the area of the capital Elusion-Ilusion. '_Things really haven't changed from my mind…_' he thought finally making it into the capital. There were sweet smells in the air, and the noise from the city made him feel at home now. He wandered around thinking back to how many times the three of them use to run up and down these sidewalks back then.

He stopped in front of a bookstore trying hard to remember what the Moogle text said underneath one of the advertisement signs. '_Man my memory is all fuzzy now…_' he thought and sighed tapping his hand on the glass wall. "You know, the Moogles are going to get mad at you again…"

He turned around, and noticed someone with their hands on their hips. "Honestly Terra, come on the Moogles don't want to deal with anymore annoyances…" the girl with blue hair said.

"I'm not annoying them…" he said pulling his hand away from the glass wall. "Anyway, shouldn't you be off with Ventus?" he asked. '_Just like old times…_' he thought noticing the faint blush on her cheek.

"Hey Terra!" another voice said, and the young adolescent felt something on his back. "What are you doing out here all by yourself. I thought you would've been with Ignis by now…"

"Ventus, get off, you're heavy!" he said trying to shake the teen off. "Act your age!"

The blonde hared youth got off of the taller one and grinned. He loved annoying Terra when he had the chance just because it was fun for him. The three of them walked down the sidewalk, and Terra reflected back on some of the memories that he had shared with them, or rather his original self had shared with them.

"so then, tomorrow's the big day…" Ven said looking up at the clouded sky. "I wouldn't be surprised if it rained tomorrow…"

'_I remember, it rained when we left Sunset Horizon…_' he thought looking up at the sky, they weren't clear like other days, but just clouded. '_I never noticed it before, but the sky can read emotions, I suppose…_'

"Hey Terra… Yoo-hoo, anybody home?" both of his friends called out, waving their hands in front of his face. The youth blinked, and laughed sheepishly. "Hey what's going on with you, you're more quiet than usual…" it was Ven who pointed it out.

"I'm… just thinking." Terra said being as honest as he could be. "Can't a guy think?"

"Yeah… but I mean, it isn't really like you to…" Ven rubbed the back of his head, he didn't really have any reason to say that at all.

"We're just worried about you, that's all." Aqua said smiling slightly. "Hey… your cut healed up!" Terra felt something tugging on his wrist. "Wow, you did a Curaga spell all by yourself, that's great!"

"About that…" something began to shake under the ground, and Terra cursed mentally at the thought of what it was. Ven and Aqua stood their ground and looked around. "Go and tell Master Xehanort, hurry!"

"Yeah…" the two of them ran off, but something stopped Ventus for excelling further. He looked back and shook his head.

"What are you doing?!" Terra yelled. "Aqua…!"

"She's a capable fighter, I'm not leaving you behind!" Ventus said pulling out his Keyblade, 'Way to Dawn'. '_That's right, this is all from my memory…_' Terra thought pulling out his Keyblade, 'Kingdom Key'.

"Behind you!" Ven shouted, and Terra spun around with quick speed, decapitating that approaching Heartless. Ven ran forward and blocked an approaching attack from one of the Neo Shadows that ran forward. Somewhere in the distance, Aqua pulled out her Keyblade and growled, this wasn't a good sign at all. She blocked an on coming aerial attack from one of the Requiem types that dealt with magical attacks. '_Damn it!_' she thought jumping into the air, and parrying with an Air Soldier. Another one came up from behind, and tried to knock her higher into the air. '_Oh no you don't!_' she thought letting go of her Keyblade for a second and sending a 'Thundaga' spell towards the second Heartless, and the ones surrounding it.

Ventus fired a 'Firaga' spell knocking back some of the Heartless around him. One Heartless avoided the magical attack and ran forward towards an unsuspecting Ven, and he didn't have enough time to dodge the attack at all. He fell forward and landed on his side, the claw of the Heartless piercing his shoulder. He yelled out in pain, catching the attention of Terra and Aqua near by. The girl ran back, slashing wildly at the Heartless that leapt up from the ground, and sending some of her spells crashing head on towards several Heartless. She pushed her Keyblade forward, sending a shockwave straight at the surrounding Heartless, mixing her speed with her attacks. '_Hang on Ven…_' she thought as she tried to reach him, but the Heartless were starting to come back.

Terra swung his Keyblade to the side knocking back several Heartless with ease, but his mind was growing restless hearing his friend yell out in pain. He tried to run forward, but the Heartless were blocking his every path. '_I don't have time for you!_' he yelled bring his Keyblade forward only to have one shield knock him back. The soldier let his shield snap its jaws menacingly, and the shields eyes blazed red. '_A Fire spell…_' he thought quickly spinning to the side, narrowly missing the fireball. He stood his ground, bringing his Keyblade in front of him, and looked around, his blue eyes watching the movements of the Heartless, he had fought countless of them before, their movements were something he almost recognized. A Neo Shadow moved to the right, and it collided with the air borne Keyblade that Terra had thrown.

Aqua on the other hand was mere inches away from Terra, when something crashed onto the ground making her jump back, away from the creature. It was something by the name of a Wyvern, and it brought its talons back, ready to strike her down for good. The Wyvern moved with a sudden burst of speed, aiming its head straight towards the blue hared girl, and it bounced off a thin light created barrier. Aqua grinned, and broke the barrier around her and jumped into the air, letting hey Keyblade catch the mid air Heartless, and striking it hard on the ground with enough force to let it knock out. Ventus was safe, since he fought back, but the wound on his shoulder was putting a strain him. She could see in the distance that Terra was surrounded, but he was fighting back better than she expected.

Ventus pushed two Heartless away from his body and brought his Keyblade back to his side. The humidity from the air was starting to get to him, that's why he didn't like cloudy days at all. Two stray wolf like Heartless ran forward and leapt into the air, and Ven braced himself, but something pushed them back. A Firaga and a Thundaga spell from opposite directions hit the airborne enemies. That was a sign for him, and he ran forward leaping into the massive crowd before him, tearing away at the flesh of the enemies composed of darkness. The citizens of the fabricated world were no where to be seen. '_Maybe these people were these creatures in disguise…_' Ventus thought as his Keyblade connected with the stomach of one Neo Shadow. As he pulled it out the blonde hared youth heard the Heartless emit a faint howl in pain, and it disappeared from sight, watching a lone heart disappear into the void.

The numbers were falling slowly, but steady. The three of them knew that one old tale about the tortoise and hare, how being slow and steady won the race, but still with their strength running out they needed to end it quickly.

"Trinity!" Aqua yelled out, hoping to get the others to start thinking of plans. Terra looked back at Ventus as he twirled the Keyblade rapid, sending several of the Heartless to the ground.

"Worth a shot!" Terra yelled back, straining under the massive snapping jaws of a shield; he was caught off guard for a small moment. A Keyblade, which looked like a wing of some sort, smacked the shield wielding Heartless, and Ventus appeared onto of the fallen Heartless slicing off its head. '_He's getting a jest of it now, where the heck was he twenty years ago?!_' his mind was yelling at the thought. Someone appeared right behind the blonde hared individual, and she smiled slightly.

"Ready to give it a shot?" Aqua asked Terra, as she helped him up. He nodded, and all three of them gathered together, raising their weapons high into the air. "One…"

"Two…" Ventus grinned as he sent out tapped energy into the Keyblade. Aqua was using her own skills to draw energy into her Keyblade, it was easy for her since she came from a family of mages. Terra closed his eyes, gripping his Keyblade tightly and muttering something, like a prayer.

"Three!" all of the individuals yelled out simultaneously, and something like beams of light shot down from the heavens above, engraving a symbol on the earth, etched out in a golden light of some sort. From the air it looked like a heart, and soon the energy formed another symbol of some sort, and a light enveloped all of the beings on the battleground.

All three of the young warriors leaned forward breathing in heavily, trying to catch their breath. Terra opened his eyes, and noticed that every Heartless that plagued the area around them were gone. He felt a smile creep up on him, and he looked back at the others, but something was wrong. Their images were slowly fading away, like the wind moving grains of sand. Aqua was the first one to start fading away, giving a pained smile to him and to Ventus, waving slightly.

"We'll see you soon…" she said as her image finally disappeared, and her voice, like her illustration, faded into the wind.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her, you just take care of yours." Ventus said giving his taller and older companion a thumbs-up, and he grinned. "She's waiting…" his image faded into the wind, and Terra was left alone in a world fabricated by his memories. '_That's right… they are the other side of my heart…_' he thought feeling a smile creep up on him, and with that he walked forward, leaving his fabricated home farther and farther behind. Terra looked up at the sky and noticed that something was falling down from it. '_Rain…_' he thought putting his hood letting the fragments of heavens tears fall on the ground.

_"How old were you originally, when you fought?" a girl asked him softly. He looked up feeling like he was in a daze of some sort. He didn't even know the girl that was hovering over him. 'She's got silver hair…' he thought and stared her straight in the eyes; they were blue just like his. "So, how old were you when you fought?" she asked again. _

_"Stop pestering him!" another voice said, sounding rather harsh. _

_"Oh shut up, Shimasax!" the girl rebutted, pulling her frame away from the fallen figure. "It's not everyday we see this…" she wrinkled her nose in annoyance, and pulled up the fallen figure. _

_"This is number thirteen then," a female said, she had a strange gun resting against her shoulder. "Jeez little witch, this dude looks like that dud." _

_"He was not a dud!" she snapped, it was obvious that she was mad. _

_"Little witch, always speaking out of turn…" the figure by the name of Shimasax said laughing. "If it weren't for the fact you're the __Superior__'s favorite…" _

_"Yeah well, it was Xum's job to find new recruits… Also check up on the other two that came with him, we could use those as 11 and 12." the witch said disappearing into a dark portal. "Just leave this one as 13…" _

_"Alright, alright, missy Memory Witch. Now as for you 13… Let's see how you dance, yeah?" the female sounding person pushing him along. _

"I was almost twenty…" Terra finally was able to answer the question, but it was no use. '_I'll tell her when I get upstairs…_' he thought and walked forward hearing the rain beat against his hood. There were no obstacles stopping him from reaching the end of the room, and with that he opened the doors, letting the white colored entrances _bang_ loudly against the walls. "Yeah I remember now… It was my nineteenth year," he said softly to himself looking at the white hallway before him. "Still six years away from reaching my prime…"

"Talking to yourself I see…" a familiar voice said, and Terra looked to his side, watching the familiar black battle suit, and the black mask.

"Xehanort…" Terra growled, pulling out a Keyblade by the name of 'Two Across'. This was the Keyblade he now used in battle, since his original Keyblade was in the hands of another. 'Two Across' had the colors of silver and black integrated into it. It was modeled after the one who was the former thirteenth member, by the name of Roxas. The tip of the Keyblade four kunai shaped edges on one side, in the pattern of silver and black, and at the hilt of it two sharp edges were on it, and three on another side. A similar motif was on the keychain. '_Sora would know this Keyblade…_' Terra thought.

"You know…" the figure began to move forward. Terra, in reaction backed away slowly, bringing his Keyblade in front of him. "You're not using the _gift_ I gave you; you're being so stubborn…"

"Get away from here!" Terra growled, gripping the handle of his weapon tightly.

"It'd be easier if you opened your heart to darkness…" the figure in the black battle suit said, stopping in front of Terra. He caught his reflection in the black visor of the head armor.

Terra snarled, and jumped back. "I'm not letting you control me…" he said, running forward and slashing at the projection of the dark Heartless like knight. "So stay away."

"Fine…" the projection said fading away slowly in a black mist. "I'll be _praying_ for you then, I suppose, so that you find the right path to tread on, Terra…" the figure began to disappear slowly, and the last thing he saw was the black tinted visor, and for a moment he swore that he saw the figure smiling.

Terra breathed in, clutching his chest for awhile, trying to let his heartbeat relax, it did frighten him, when he saw that familiar figure. '_A constant reminder…_' he thought shaking his head. '_I'll get rid of you, trust me…_' that was something that kept him going. "I'm almost there… I know it…" he panted, "right, you guys?"

The three names that floated in his mind were the only things that kept him going. The only friends he had now, it wasn't Nusvext or Xauqa believe it or not, it hadn't been for a long time, not since those dreams plagued, he figured it was better to separate himself from them. It was Ames, Xejicka, and Mickey the royal mouse, those three he felt he owed so much to them. '_I'm doing it for you guys…_' he thought walking forward, pulling his hood down in exhaustion, he was almost there, he could sense it. '_Just wait for me…_'

In the distance an exhausted royal king moved silently behind Terra, watching his good friend struggle valiantly, in a sense, to try and take down his personal demons. '_Aqua and Ven would be proud of you Terra._' Mickey thought moving slowly, so that the teen didn't detect his presence. '_Ames was right about you, you're different from the others…_'

**With Xiaga **

The _Cloaked Schemer_ appeared in a flutter of tattered and aged textbook pages, and all he emitted from the silence was a heavy sigh in frustration, with a hint of sadness if one could even say that he was upset. Xiaga looked around; pushing back some of the hair that covered his view, his dark blue eyes staring at the vast area of debris that once were pillars and parts of a hallway. He walked forward, his boots scarping against the gravel of the broken pieces of the floor and pillars. '_This isn't my day…_' Xiaga thought looking around once more. A piece of his heart was hoping to catch a glimpse of the green eyed _Silent Hero_, but that was like asking the great one himself to appear.

Xiaga looked down at the ground around him, and pulled out a small metal shaped puzzle, the kind you try to take off, and held it gingerly in his hand. '_Sorry for breaking your favorite cup,_' number 6 thought, placing the metal puzzle on the ground.

"Ruxsud…" he said softly, "I can't believe I lost you too…" Xiaga frowned for a moment. "…You useless idiot…" it wasn't certain if he said it to himself, or to the deceased member. Xiaga walked forward amongst the rubble of the fight. "I have to hurry then, if Xauqa and the little witch are able to get those two, then I've got to bring Raxter back at all cost, or else I'm done for… What the heck is this organization coming to?" he asked himself as he moved forward.

_"Terra…?" he watched the young witch move around the bottom hallway of the castle, and bumped into him. "Oh, Xiaga!" she said happily, excusing herself from the contact, and bowed slightly. "Terra said he was here, have you seen him, Gaia?" she asked, her voice was as soft and timid as it was ever going to be. _

_"How can I put this in terms you'll understand…?" he smirked. "No." it was cold enough to freeze her in her tracks. _

_Someone laughed, and __Ames__ turned around looking up at the towering figure. It was Ruxsud, patting the witch softly on the head. "Come on Xiaga, she means no harm… Besides I know you're sore because she hasn't been visiting us so often." _

_"Is that why?" she looked back at Xiaga's deep blue colored eyes. "If that is why then, I'll just have to drop by everyday then." _

_"What joy…" Xiaga winced feeling a punch on his shoulder. _

_"The man of the hour." Ruxsud said looking at the brown hared youth. "Well __Ames__, he found you." _

_"If I remember correctly," Raxter began to speak, looking at Xiaga, "you promised us a free lunch, remember?" _

_"Is that why you came down here?" __Ames__ asked. _

_"I had to make you hungry somehow." Xiaga said walking back towards the entrance of their headquarters. "I asked Terra to come down here." _

_"See, I knew you weren't a bad guy Xiaga. You're much nicer than Ienzo." __Ames__ said following the Cloaked Schemer like a duckling that follows its mother. _

_"You looked a bit upset without Terra, so I figured that bringing him down here would work up your appetite." _

_"Hey don't forget me!" a familiar female voice called out from deeper inside headquarters. _

_"Xejicka?! Did… no…" Xiaga sighed resting his head on his hand. "It took me an hour to get everything ready." _

_"And it shows…" Xejicka said serving herself another place of delicious food. "You and Durus out did yourselves this time, my compliments to the cooks!" she said smiling. _

_"Relax Xiaga, what's important is that we're eating with friends." Number 5 said patting the smaller member on the back. "Xejicka how's the salad?" _

_"Haven't touched it yet…" she said being completely honest. "Hey Rax, hey __Ames__." She waved with a fork in her hand. "I had a feeling you two would come with each other." _

_"Just don't get use to the hospitality of it all." Xiaga said looking at __Ames_

_"Admit it, you missed us!" __Ames__ said jumping on his back. "Come on, little Xiaga missed us, how sweet!" _

He smiled slightly thinking back to that day. '_Things were so simple back then…_' he thought shaking his head.

**With ****Ames**** and Xauqa **

The young teen opened her eyes slowly, letting her vision adjust itself to the color green. '_Plants…_' she thought blinking once more and finally catching a glimpse of a familiar face. Ames sighed heavily, letting her voice echo through the white and green room. Xauqa was walking around the area talking to the plants before her, and Ames looked away. '_He had a good reason to leave them, but he could've stayed and helped me with them…_' she thought sadly, and shook her head.

"All of us were pretty close to freedom…" the _Graceful Assassin_ was talking to herself. "But you ended up closing the exit…" she said turning to face the girl in the plain black dress. "You foiled the Superior's plan… You've really got no choice now but to bring them to our side by force."

Ames eyed the blue flower that appeared in Xauqa's hand. '_… From the capital…_' something in her heart told her. '_He gave her a blue rose…_' she smiled. Still, bringing her mind back to the present, she was slightly afraid, for she had seen into the distant future, but not to this point. '_I saw too far into it…_' she thought shaking her head. "I won't do it!" Ames said backing up into a wall.

"It's not a request, it's an order. Erase their memories completely!" she said.

"This isn't what he would've wanted!" Ames yelled at her bravely, placing her hands over her chest. "You know it, and Nusvext knew it as well. Why do you think he…?" she shook her head.

"Don't bring _him_ into the conversation. He's long gone, child." Xauqa said smiling. "Listen I just wanted the Keyblade wielders here, unharmed." She began to speak once more, trying to adjust her tone softly. "You know what I mean, right?" Ames growled in protest.

"Even if I did agree to do it, I can't erase it completely, something in their hearts won't let me… and anyway, I'll fight you back." She said. It was something that made Xauqa laugh.

"You expect to fight me?" the _Graceful Assassin _even more. "That's priceless right there, you can't fight! But I award you points for originality. That's something not even the former Memory Witch would've done so early in this stage. Bravo."

Xauqa walked forward once more, but Ames had nowhere else to turn to now. '_Memories can't help me now…_' she thought moving to the side now. '_But it's not hopeless…_' that was something she knew by heart, or at least that's what she had told Terra some time ago.

_"They're corrupted…" Xejicka said leaning against the wall of her room. She looked back at Rax and __Ames__ with her hazel eyes, she seemed to notice the pained look in Rax's eyes. "Hey come on, cheer up." She tried to get him to smile. _

_"What's the point?" Rax asked looking down at his feet. "They were all I had." _

_"But you've got us." __Ames__ said trying to smile. _

_"Not to sound mean, but I mean they were my best friends." Rax said looking back at Xejicka and __Ames__. These two were good friends, but it wasn't enough to say that they were his 'best' friends. "I should probably go now…" he said starting to walk through the doorway, away from number 8 and the Memory Witch. _

_"It's not hopeless! You'll always have a home here! Not to mention the good memories." Ames said trying to reach out to him. _

_"Don't be a stranger! Just don't forget us, okay?" Xejicka smiled. _

_"If I forgot you guys, I'd lose everything…" he said closing the door to Xejicka's room. _

_"Better late than never…" the Flurry of the Dancing Flames responded noticing that sad look on __Ames__' facial feature. "Cheer up, he'll be back…" _

Ames moved back, avoiding a vine from grabbing her arm, and Xauqa was enjoying the little display of speed. "You move pretty fast for a kid…" she said sending another vine straight towards her. Ames spun around, but the vine managed to strike her arm. "But we've got work to do." Xauqa said snapping her fingers, and more vines went straight towards the Memory Witch. In a sudden display of flames, the vines withered away, and Xauqa growled noticing the burst of flames in front of Ames. '_Darn it…_' she thought watching a familiar mark on that person's cheek.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything…" the figure said grinning. Ames smiled happily, but Xejicka didn't notice it at all. "I was just wondering… you know, about what you were doing, considering the fact that Nusvext is gone and whatnot."

Xauqa growled for a moment, hearing his name from Xejicka's mouth. '_How dare she…_' she thought staring at number 8 with an intent to kill. '_Right from the beginning I knew something was up with you…_' the Castle Administrator thought, thinking back to those first moments when Xejicka had so willingly followed her instructions.

"You and your cursed meddling…" Xauqa began to speak.

Xejicka laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, about your plan to use Ames, Nusvext, and those two to take over the Organization. Real smooth, administrator." She said looking back at Ames for a moment. Soon Xejicka outstretched her arms, and in a blaze of flames her chakram appeared in each hand, with brilliant flames dancing around her. "You know, if I remember correctly that would label you as a traitor…" she began. "And you said to get rid of traitors, remember?"

The _Graceful Assassin_ snarled and watched Xejicka not once moving her blue eyes away from the chakram wielding member. Fire was unpredictable, and could easily spread with the resources at hand. The chakram wielder ran forward, and the blue hared female jumped back, manipulating the blue flower in her hand, and soon a scythe was forming from the object she controlled. This was the former weapon of the original Castle Administrator by the name of Marluxia. "You agreed to our plans!" she answered back as the scythe was now in frame.

"I never said I'd join!" the dark hared member said spinning her chakram for a moment, and proceeded to strike the one in charge. Xauqa moved back, and brought the blade of her scythe forward, just in time to block the chakram in her path, with a simple flick of the wrist, the chakram was sent flying back to its master. Xejicka caught it gracefully and smiled pleasantly, she was just getting started, and she knew that the blue hared member was too. '_Got make this quick, hopefully the others catch up soon…_' she thought watching the scythe go airborne, straight at her. She threw her chakram in the path of the weapon, and disappeared from sight as quickly as she could, her chakram couldn't deflect the two smaller weapons.

"You double agent, I'll just have to kill you!" Xauqa yelled summoning the scythe back to her hand, and she noticed that the chakram had disappeared as well. She turned around quickly and blocked the fireball with a rapid spin of the appointed weapon in the _Graceful Assassin_'s hand. Xejicka jumped into the air, and Xauqa moved back noticing a chakram flying towards her neck. These two were somewhat matched in speed, but fire moved faster, and plants were fuel to feed this particular fire wielder, this battle would end quickly.

Xauqa stretched out her palm and petals began to dance around her, getting ready to attack the pyro-chakram-wielding member. Xejicka snapped her fingers, and flames began to twirl around the edges of the pointy chakrams. Ames watched as the two of them moved around in a flash of petals and flames, metal hitting metal, and the sound of something getting stuck into a wall. Xejicka was taunting the _Graceful Assassin_ and she was falling perfectly into the trap. "You dim bulb!" that was Xauqa's voice as the scythe has its blade coming upwards ready to cut the _Flurry of the Dancing Flames_ into two. Xejicka spun to the side, and threw her weapon right towards the blue hared fighter.

Xauqa dodged the attack and the chakram went towards the straight path its master had set it out for. Ames gasped, feeling the heat of the metallic weapon mere millimeters away from her face. She gulped, and felt her heart almost explode in terror. Xejicka ran back, and pulled the wayward chakram away from the wall. "You almost his Ames!" the blue hared female yelled out.

"Well she's standing right where we're fighting!" Xejicka yelled back throwing her chakram and controlling it with the element of her mind. As long as it was engulfed in flames she could maintain a good grip on its path. '_If… if I stay here, I could… I'll die!_' the Memory Witch thought watching the smoke come out from where the chakram struck. Something opened the doorway, and Ames felt her face light up. Sora and Amaterasu ran at their maximum and the dark skinned girl threw her companion into the air, and with his Keyblade he blocked the oncoming path of the chakram and scythe.

Amaterasu slide underneath the two weapons, using a Blizzaga to help her access the sliding motion. " Ames!" the two of them yelled out in concern. Xejicka looked at the figure that slide across the floor, and Xauqa looked at the one that was airborne. Sora arrived first, and sighed in relief as Ames didn't seem to look hurt. "I thought you were going to wait for us…" Amaterasu said.

Sora patted Ames on the back, "what happened?" he asked.

"She took me away from there," Ames nudged towards the scythe wielding assassin, Xauqa. Donald and Goofy arrived on the scene, and Sora told them to take care of Ames.

"Why don't you just leave her alone!?" Amaterasu yelled angrily, pulling out her second Keyblade.

"Ah, it's the Hero and the Messenger…" she noticed the look in their eyes. They seemed angry at her, and she chuckled. "Welcome to Castle Oblivion, where to find is to lose, and to lose is to find."

"You!" Amaterasu yelled out angrily. Sora held her back from doing something she'd regret later. "Dark, relax…" Sora said trying to soothe his friend for a while. Xejicka took the moment to jump forward, back into action, and her chakram was pushed forward.

"We're not done yet!" she said, noticing that Xauqa blocked her attack with ease. The _Graceful Assassin _grinned and disappeared in an array of flower petals and reappeared behind Ames, and chuckled. Ames tried to move away, but felt a strong grip on her shoulder. Xejicka's hazel eyes darted to the left, and noticed that Xauqa had someone in her grasp.

" Ames!" Amaterasu yelled, running forward, Sora called out to her, but she didn't stop running.

"Don't move!" Xauqa said pointing her scythe to Amaterasu, making the dark skinned girl freeze in her path. Ames growled for a moment, her blue eyes looking up angrily at the blue hared and blue eyed organization member. Xejicka looked back, feeling a bit helpless watching her friend in the clutches of a corrupted figure. Ames looked back at Xejicka, and she noticed that the girl with silver hair, and blue eyes nodded slightly. '_All right __Ames__, I'll try hard not to hurt you though,_' Xejicka thought.

Xejicka laughed:  
"I didn't think you'd be playing this game…" she said pulling the act with ease. "This is an all time low for you Xauqa, you coward. You really think that hiding behind Ames is going to stop me? Thinks again!" she disappeared in a show of fire, and reappeared in back of Xauqa, thrusting her chakram forward. "You can stay with your little friend to keep you company in the void!" Ames gasped, feeling her eyes widen. The chakram was inches away from her heart. '_But I trust you…_' the witch thought trying hard not to let fear take over her.

Xauqa had gotten lucky, since she teleported in a flash, avoiding the chakram attack by the fraction of a second. She shook her head, and didn't plan on letting go of Ames anytime soon. "I don't think so…" she said simply. "Hey you two are you listening?" Xauqa tried to drown out Ames' muffled protests. "Xejicka here says that she'll do anything to get rid of me, even if it means taking out Ames here."

Amaterasu growled and ran towards Xauqa with her Keyblades ready to strike. The organization member didn't waste any time pacing a simple Stop spell, to make the teen abruptly stop in her tracks. Ames watched as Amaterasu tried to break the bond placed on her body, but it was no use, Xauqa was skilled with magic, almost on par with the superior himself.

"Now listen here you two, you're going to protect Ames, am I right?" Xauqa asked looking at Sora then to Amaterasu. Both of the individuals looked at Ames, who was trying to shake her head, but the capture had her held tightly. "Which one of us is more dangerous?" she asked, nudging in the direction of the chakram wielder. Xejicka growled, trying her best to control her temper. The scythe was dangerously close to Ames' body.

Both Amaterasu and Sora held their weapons tightly, staring at Xauqa with anger in their eyes. '_This is just like that last time…_' both Donald and Goofy thought, reminiscing to when Sora and they went through the doorway of Castle Oblivion. '_She really did repeat history…_' Donald thought looking back at Ames, then to Amaterasu.

**Destiny** **Island**

The youth with the faded amber and black shirt sighed roaming around the shoreline of this new area. The smells were different, it was hot, and that meant no snow around the cold months. '_Rain…_' he thought grimly thinking back to the last time he was caught in the rain. This was the second day of his arrival here on the islands, and he had been sleeping in a cave somewhere off in the distance. '_I don't have enough money for a hotel, and I can't exactly just ask, it's weird…_' he thought frowning for a moment. '_Why?_' he asked himself looking up at the sky. He sensed someone in the area and looked around, he caught sight of someone with silver hair. '_It's that guy from yesterday,_' Ven thought.

Riku was waiting again, just like he always did, but this time he wasn't alone. He turned his head to the side and noticed that someone else was on the shore. '_It's that kid,_' Riku thought thinking back to the Roxas look-alike from yesterday. Ventus watched the teen with turquoise eyes for a moment and sensed something familiar about it. '_He's got that Keyblade…_' Ventus thought advancing forward, '_I guess striking up conversation wouldn't hurt._'

"Um…" Ventus rubbed the back of his head, and laughed nervously. "Hi…" he managed to wave weakly. '_Smooth, real smooth…_' he thought sarcastically to himself.

"…" Riku didn't know what to say, the only thing registering in his mind was Roxas. '_But he's not…_' he thought trying to respond back to the greeting. All he ended up doing was nodding in acknowledgement.

"You're waiting for someone too?" Ventus asked the guy with silver hair. The teenager was taken aback by the sudden question, and Ventus tried to apologize. "Sorry, I mean I just assumed you were, why else would you come here in the afternoon sun, right?"

"To think…" Riku responded, but it was true he was here to wait for someone, but you didn't tell that to someone you just met, let alone if you don't even know their name.

Ventus scratched the side of his cheek feeling embarrassed for some reason, talking with new people wasn't exactly his strong point. '_At times like this I wish Terra was here…_' he thought.

He took in a deep breath:  
"What's your name?"

"Riku," the teen said looking back at the newcomer. "Yours?" he asked.

"Ventus, but my friends call me Ven." He said placing his hands on the back of his head. "I'm waiting here for someone…"

"You don't say…?" responded the silver hared teen.

The blonde hared teen sighed; Ventus knew why the presence seemed so familiar. '_He's got my Keyblade…_' he thought frowning. Out of all the people in the world fate set him up with the one person who was now the new master of his Keyblade. '_I wonder if he has the heart to fully wield it…_' Ventus wasn't too keen on finding out the successor to the 'Way to Dawn' Keyblade. "Hey, Riku…"

Riku looked at the newcomer by the name of Ventus, and paid attention to him. "While we wait, you mind sparring with me?" Riku didn't really know how to respond. "Weird question, yes I know, but come on, please?" talk about weird. '_Either he thinks I'm a fruit or a weird guy, whichever one he takes it doesn't make me look good._' Ventus thought shaking his head.

"We don't exactly have wooden swords now do we?" Riku stated the obvious. '_I'm not going to pass up a challenge… but man he looks so much like Sora's Nobody it's hard to ask him._'

Ventus laughed:  
"Not with wooden swords… I meant with Keyblades." Ventus said outstretching his hand forward, in a flash of light something started to hover over the blonde teen's hand, and he grinned. "It's a small world, isn't it?" the Keyblade n Ventus' hand looked like it was craved out of ice, and it was jagged, the teen with the turquoise eyes noticed that there was a snowflake that made up its keychain. This particular weapon went by the name of 'Diamond Dust'.

Riku growled, and drew his hand back, summoning his Keyblade. '_How does this kid know about the Keyblade…?_' he asked himself. '_Wait…_' something finally clicked into his head. '_It can't be him? No, that happened more than twenty years ago…_'

"We can ask each other questions later…" Ventus said putting his Keyblade over his shoulder. "Now, show me why you're fit to take the path of dawn…"

Riku scouted around trying to sense Ven's presence, but the boy moved to fast for him. 'Too slow!" Ventus yelled out, and Riku two stepped back, leaning backwards; the Keyblade barely missed his nose. The silver hared teen growled, and pushed the Keyblade back with one of his own, a strange looking blade with what appeared to be a stretched out demons wing, with an angel wing at the tip of the blade. Where the handle rested a demon wing and an angel wing formed a circle to form the guard, this was 'Way to Dawn'.

Riku ran forward and jumped into the air, bring his Keyblade back. Ventus prepared himself for the air to ground attack and with one hand blocked the force. Riku drove his Keyblade further, pushing his strength to the limit, using both of his hands to move. Ventus wouldn't budge, and easily sent Riku backwards moving his left arm forward. Ventus ran forward and threw his Keyblade forward, the ice textured Keyblade slicing through the air with rapid speed. Riku twisted through the air but it wasn't enough the gust nicked his back, and the teen winded slightly in pain.

The silver hared teen landed back on the sand, and ran forward with his Keyblade at his side. Ventus summoned his weapon back and in a bizarre display, blocked Riku's attack with ease, Ven's back was turned on his opponent. Riku jumped back at growled, this Ventus fellow was doing a good job, and there wasn't a scratch on him. '_But not for long…_' Riku thought tossing his Keyblade like a boomerang. Ventus turned around quickly and placed a Reflectaga spell, and once the Keyblade was deflected he charged straight ahead, letting his Keyblade collide with Riku's weapon. Riku strained to push him back, his feet digging deeper and deeper into the sand. '_Why? Why?!_' Riku asked himself, feeling his feet move back.

'_I'll give him points for being stubborn, he's out matched in strength, he still has a while before he's on par with Terra…_' Ventus thought sending Riku backwards. The silver hared teen landed on the sand, with a Keyblade on his neck. Ventus panted slightly letting the tip of his weapon touch Riku's neck. "I could kill you if I wanted to," that was something that would echo into Riku's mind. The silver hared teen managed to push the menacing Keyblade away, and he finally stood up panting.

"We're getting nowhere with this…" Ventus said withdrawing his Keyblade. "It's obvious that you're still too young to even wield that… I know I was too." The blonde hared youth said rubbing the back of his head. "You know… I always wondered if you would've been the next Terra, but I guess that's left up to Sora now."

"Sora… Sora?!" it registered into Riku's mind. "You… you met Sora?"

Ventus laughed at the bewildered look etched on Riku's face. Turquoise eyes wide with shock, and mouth slightly gaped open. "I met and fought him, but I lost. Wasn't fair though, he had help of course. I'll tell you that another day though…" Riku watched as snow like residue floated in the air, and something jagged connected with his ribs, everything began to grow hot as his body landed on the light colored sand. Within seconds Ventus watched as the turquoise eyes disappeared, covered bye his eyelids, he had been knocked out, plain and simple.

"It'll take a while before Amaterasu and Sora come back anyway… You should know that by now Riku." Ventus said dusting himself off.

**A/N: **You know what to do **_one_** review please!

Ventus seemed evil for some reason, what the heck happened to the small little Chaser we knew and use to make fun of for his height…? Can Terra fight off his own personal demons before the darkness swallows him? What about Sora and the others can they stand on their own against the 'Graceful Assassin? All that and more will be answered on the next and final chapter of part one!


	13. XIII

**A/N:** Well here's the end of part one you guys!

**Xejicka:** Thanks again buddy for your help and stuff, couldn't have done it without you. Hopefully this pulls you out of your nasy writer's block!

**Rozen-senpai:** I'll put the Compass to good use within part two of this, which will be a good thing since it'll help tie some loose ends. Until then enjoy, and thank you!

**Sonic13:** Hey buddy what's up?! It's the finale, but don't worry the sequel will be up soon, I hope… I'm glad you like Ammi and Xejicka, WOOT! Anyway have fun reading.

Now without further interruptions, on with the last chapter!

**Chapter 13: Break of dawn **

'_I can't breathe!_' Ames thought trying to remove Xauqa's hand from her mouth. It was covering the airway to her nostrils. Xejicka noticed that through the struggle Ames managed to wink back at her. The scythe's blade was dangerously close to the Memory Witch's body. '_I'm not going to let you down…_' the _Flurry of the Dancing Flames_ thought. "Now listen you two, if you want to protect Ames," Xauqa began to fade away, "you should deal with Xejicka first…"

"Not so fast, Xauqa!" someone ran through the hallway, raising their weapon high into the air. Xauqa pushed her scythe forward, and the blade connected with the opposing weapon. Sora and Amaterasu watched the figure try to get Xauqa to lose her grip on the girl, but the _Graceful Assassin_ wasn't going to let her plan crumble anytime soon.

"Abedo…" the voice held mixed reactions for Xejicka, Amaterasu, and Sora. The replica growled and held off the deadly _Graceful Assassin_ for a while. Xauqa turned around quickly and pushed Ames into the direct path of the attack. The Memory Witch flinched, moving back, and shouted something with haste. A barrier rapidly formed around its master, and the sound _ping_ echoed throughout the room as Abedo's weapon collided with it. '_Quick thinking, __Ames__…_' he thought watching Ames for a moment, and then looked back at Xauqa who was several feet away.

Xejicka ran forward, bringing her chakram to her side. '_This was unexpected…_' she thought running as fast as her feet could carry her. Xauqa barely had enough time to block the attack, and as she spun to the side she suffered a gash on her right arm from the sharp circular weapon. The _Graceful Assassin_ teleported behind Ames and took her back in her grasp.

"Deal with these two first…" she said coldly watching Amaterasu and Sora for a moment. With that flower petals began to fall from the sky, she was getting ready to leave. "Find Terra!" Ames yelled out trying to break free. The replica growled for a moment as Ames and Xauqa, the blue hared person, disappeared.

The replica gripped the handle of his weapon. '_Even after all that…_' he thought sourly. '_I couldn't save her… What good am I?_' he reflected for a moment. Abedo shook his head and ran back in the opposite direction. '_What kind of friend am I? I wanted to save her…_' he thought thinking back to those last two words she had told him. '_I have to find you now. At least I can do that,_' with that Abedo ran. The others called out to him, but he didn't stop running. "Don't lose!" the replica said, his voice echoing loudly through the white hallway.

"Abedo…" Sora and Amaterasu said softly. For some reason they seemed upset as the replica left them.

"Damn it!" Sora and his companion look ahead in the direction of the voice, noticing that Xejicka was setting several plants in the area ablaze. '_She's upset…_' Amaterasu thought, and Sora nodded. Around the chakram wielder there were ashes all over the place, and around several white pillars, she had burnt all the plants around the area in rage. The others within the area watched as her circular weapons were engulfed in flames. She was trying hard to control her anger, but it was beginning to take a hold of her. "Would you look at that…" Xejicka looked back at all four of the figures behind her. Her hazel eyes wandered around the four individuals. "Because of you guys she got away…" she responded, feeling dejected. The chakram wielder placed one of her deadly, circular weapons over her shoulder and sighed heavily glancing down at her feet and then back to the others.

"Xejicka…" Amaterasu bit her lip and grimaced at the thought that they had caused it. "I…" the tone in her voice caught the attention of the fire wielder. In Xejicka's mind she acted so much like Ames, or rather it was better said that Ames acted like her. '_Does she feel sorry? But why? Is it because they've grown to care for her? And if so, they know that they have fake memories, wouldn't that fact alone be enough for them to just abandon her?_' a lot of ideas were running through the fire wielders head. Amaterasu continued with what she began to say, "We're so-"

"Listen, Light and Dark, or Sora and Ammi, whatever you guys want to be called," the Soulless said before the girl was able to make her apology. Amaterasu watched the chakram glisten slightly as the master of the pair of weapons twirled with ease at the skillful mastery. Sora looked at the marking on her upper right cheek, and then made eye contact with her. "You're not going to fall into Ms. Flower Petal's strategy, are you?"

Sora gripped his weapon tightly as did the dark skinned girl, gripping her weapons Way to Night and Oblivion. "Don't you want to save her?" the blue eyed teen asked gripping the handle of Kingdom Key. "Why else did you fight against that person?"

"…" Xejicka grinned thinking of a perfect excuse. "She's a traitor, is that a good enough reason, or need I say more?"

"You soulless…!" Sora growled out the last word in his mind, and yelled in anger. Amaterasu dashed forward with hopes to try and calm Sora down through the link in their minds, but somehow Sora's rage decided to worm its way in her heart. If these two were going to help Ames it seemed that they had to get Xejicka to step back. Donald and Goofy ran after them, but the chakram wielder said otherwise.

"I'll buy you some time, Ames." Xejicka whispered to herself, watching Sora deflect the circular weapon with ease. '_But I'm not dying right now, I'll just play dead… You owe me big time __Ames__…_'

'_I suggest you try and relax…_' a familiar voice echoed in Sora's mind. '_She's __Ames__' friend…_' to which the brown hared teen responded with a how-do-you-know. '_I don't know… Light… I mean Sora! I don't know but something in my heart tells me._' Another chakram was coming towards him, but Oblivion hit it like a baseball, and Way to Night twirled in the air, beginning to glow, a small orb spun around the Keyblade and suddenly it touched the tip of the Keyblade and something started to form in front of them. '_Dark what are you trying to do?_' Sora's mind echoed through her conscious, all he saw was a faint smile placed on Amaterasu's facial feature.

"I hope you understand that she wants us to go at it, just buy herself sometime…" Xejicka said watching a dark aura form a four legged beast.

'_Ah, before I forget Dark…_' Sora began. '_I always thought that the eleventh member of the castle would be some guy with girly features…_'

**Last Stage **

Ames watched pink hued flower petals fall graciously to the ground, and felt Xauqa release the grip on her. Ames ran forward and coughed loudly, trying to refill her lungs with good air. She leaned forward and panted, placing her hands on her knees, and looked down at the ground, flower petals were everywhere now. Ames growled and looked back Xauqa with rather hateful eyes. '_You idiot, I warned you… He even tried to, I know he did. Maybe I should've let Terra go with you guys… but he had the guts not to let this place corrupt him. Nusvext tried to tell you at the last minute…I heard those three little words, and yet…_' Xauqa watched Ames for a moment and shook her head knowing that the Memory Witch was thinking.

"No one's going to bother us for a while…" Xauqa said sounding confident in her plan. "Now," she pointed at Ames. "For their memories…"

"I told you!" the witch screamed in frustration. "I can't erase their memories completely, that chain in their heart is too strong for me! For anyone to break. Not even they can break it I bet…"

"Our plan was to divide them…"

The Memory witch pushed back some strands of silver hair, and shook her head. "You saw how that worked I'm aware that you did. Splitting them apart did nothing, if anything that made their bond stronger…" Ames said looking down at her hands, they were shaking for some reason.

"Then Terra… he's a threat, I know he's here, I've felt his presence all along…" the silver hared female's eyes widened. "Erase his memories completely." Ames moved back slightly, the aroma of flowers entering her nose. '_Everything?_' she asked herself, and felt something in her heart break off. '_I can't…_' she thought shaking her head. '_He's a good friend, a very special friend. It'd be like losing Xejicka…_' again she shook her head.

"No! What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" the smaller teen spoke, feeling her whole body tremble. The thought of losing her best friend scared her that badly. "I… I made you all what you are today…" Ames said softly, almost in a whisper. "I found the three of you on the doorsteps of the Castle that Never Was, remember?"

Xauqa sighed irritably at that fact. '_Just because she gave us our names and numbers doesn't make her like the __Superior__… She's dead wrong if I'm going to listen to her,_' the _Graceful Assassin _thought. "It's an order Ames, erase his memories completely." Again she protest, this child was being stubborn. "Huh, don't tell me you've got feelings for him or something." She chuckled. "You and Xejicka act the same whenever I mentioned his name… Feelings for him…" she laughed. "That's a great joke!"

Ames growled digging her nail into the petal of a flower. Something was etched into it, and Ames clasped her hands together over the petal. Within seconds something came up from the ground, jaws were snapping violently at the castle administrator, but with ease the entity was overcome with a scythe to the neck. Ames scribbled something one another flower petal, and clapped her hands together tightly. A fabricated image of a familiar figure appeared in view as an apparition. "Nusvext…" the castle administrator managed to blurt out. "Don't toy with me!" she yelled rushing forward, and Ames felt something grasp her throat, but the soon to be full fleshed apparition shoved the _Graceful Assassin_ away bring up several kunai towards the castle administrator's face.

"…These phony images can't save you now…" she said softly bringing her scythe up, ready to strike down the fabricated image.

"Open your eyes!" the fabricated image and Ames said in unison. Something triggered Xauqa's mind, but whatever piece of humanity she had just leaped out the window in rage.

**Xejicka and the others **

The fabricated animal ran forward on all fours with a speed that could be considered not of this world. It let out an unearthly bark at its opponent, and Xejicka watched it with a curious eye. The dark furred hound growled, its fur standing up ready to strike. This hound was known as a Shadow Hound whose home was in the End of the World. '_Let's see if it's up for a game of catch…_' Xejicka smirked throwing her chakram straight at the unearthly looking beast. The animal howled setting up a dark barrier around its body, deflecting the weapon. Within seconds the Shadow Hound jumped into the air letting out its own version of Dark Aura, sending energy balls of hued in black and purple. '_This won't due Dark, we've got to attack her head on…_' Sora's mind echoed in corridors of his companion's mind. '_Withdraw…_' Amaterasu commanded the Shadow Hound watching it disappear into the dark depths of its amulet.

Pillars of flames collided with the Dark Aura attack and aided their master in the nick of time. Xejicka did a back flip in the nick of time to catch her oncoming chakram. Donald and Amaterasu placed a Blizzaga spell in their opponent's direction, but Xejicka deflected it with ease summoning a wall of fire to counter the elemental spell. Sora ran forward with his Keyblade at hand and jumped into the air ready to knock her back down, but Xejicka as too quick for that. Within seconds Sora found his Keyblade locked within the frame of the chakram in midair. "Let go!" the teen growled angrily.

"You let go!" Xejicka said pushing him down with strength, and Sora fell back to the ground. Amaterasu growled at the hasty action of her partner. '_Aero!_' she used one Keyblade to conjure up the ball of wind, watching Sora hover over the ground for a moment before landing safely on the white tiled floor. Amaterasu ran forward, and slashed in a frenzy at the chakram wielder before her. Xejicka brought both of her chakrams in front of her to deflect the two weapons in her opponent's hands. Amaterasu let Way to Night get lodged into the small opening near the handle of the chakram, and with a simple flick of the wrist Xejicka had one hand unarmed. Sora watched Way to Night fall backwards with the chakram pinned underneath it.

"How did you…?" Xejicka jumped back avoiding a blow to the head, and Oblivion moved out in rapid speed, Xejicka moving to the side, dodging the blade from time to time.

"My brother, he had a pair…" Amaterasu said pulling back. As long as her Keyblade was pinning down the other chakram Xejicka wasn't that much of a threat. Sora ran forward and jumped through the air slamming his Keyblade down on the ground shattering piece of earth. Piece of earth rose and Amaterasu, along with Sora disappeared from view. The fire wielder pushed back a flying shield, and dodged a blizzard spell. '_Damn those two!_'

Amaterasu and Sora hid behind the sanctuary of a pillar of earth trying to think of something. "The Keyblade!" the two of them whispered looking around them for Way to Night.

Sora caught sight of the Keychain that was attached to the blade and ran forward, but Xejicka caught him running and beat him to the item. Sora threw his Keyblade in her path but Xejicka dodged it instead of reflecting it. He jumped back avoiding the spinning motion of one chakram and noticed that the other one was going towards Amaterasu. '_Ammi!_' she looked up and noticed that moving weapon. '_Gravity!_' a ball of dark matter connected with the chakram forcing it down to the ground. '_Thanks Sora…_' with that Amaterasu climbed up one of the pillars of earth and summoned back her Keyblade. Xejicka grabbed her chakram and jumped onto an opposite pillar of earth overlooking the scene below her. Amaterasu noticed that Sora was running up the uneven pillar on which Xejicka stood and smiled.

'_Come on Keyblade Master, let's see what you got!_' her mind cheered on his companion. Sora took his last step before mustering enough speed to launch him through the air at neck breaking heights. Xejicka followed in suite and the two of them were locked into midair combat. A fury of metallic clashes and flames erupted from the weapons, neither one of them was going to give up. They were losing altitude rapidly and Donald placed an Aeroga spell to send Sora higher into the air. Xejicka on the other hand summoned a pillar of fire, spinning one chakram down in the direction of the pillar, as the heat and gust of the animated pillar of fire suspended her into the air. Xejicka swung her chakram forward, and Sora mimicked the same movement with his Keyblade, and a loud metallic _clang_ echoed through the halls.

Amaterasu withdrew Way to Night and let Oblivion rest on her shoulder watching Sora knock a chakram from their opponent's hand, barely missing Amaterasu by an inch. '_She's enjoying this…_' Amaterasu thought as Sora blocked a fireball that shot out from Xejicka's hand. Sora twisted his body in midair as he was losing altitude his Keyblade had struck something, and something collided with the ground. Xejicka panted catching her breath, one chakram stabbed the earth. '_I can't keep this up…_' the chakram wielder thought shaking her head. She flinched as her hand came into contact with something that wasn't her weapon. She looked up noticing the dark coated Keyblade, Amaterasu knelt forward slightly.

"Your time is up…" Amaterasu said in a soft voice. For a spilt second her voice transposed with Ames'.

"Heh…" Xejicka stood up and dusted herself off. "As if _you_ knew… But not yet." She took her chakram back and watched as Sora landed on the ground right next to her. "I just wanted to kill Xauqa, but I guess the two of you can do better. Besides I lack one item to get rid of her, and that's a Keyblade."

"Why not just help us?" Amaterasu asked. '_Are you actually begging?_' that was the only thinking registering in Xejicka's mind. '_Why? That's what I want to know… Or has Sora's light heartened-ness rubbed off on you?_' Xejicka chuckled at the thought.

"I think I'll pass on that… Just make sure the two of you come out on top, all right?" with that she left, leaving only a trail of fire in her presence.

"She's a tough fighter…" Sora said softly rubbing his nose. "She's tougher than your brother."

"Of course she is…" Amaterasu said feeling a green light wash over them. Donald and Goofy were in their view; they had gotten the last door open. Sora grinned and looked back at her:

"You ready?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous…" she said softly, placing a hand over her heart. "I'm almost able to put a name on their faces…"

"Yeah, we're really close!" Sora said pulling Amaterasu in stride with him. "That's why we can't back down now, for the sake of memories, and to rescue Ames!"

"Come on you two, let's go!" Goofy and Donald called out after them.

**Xauqa and ****Ames**

Xauqa sighed watching Ames struggle for a moment under the force of vines. She kept saying over and over again to let her go, but that protest for freedom fell on deaf ears. Xauqa was trying to relax her mind. '_This is it…_' she thought pushing back some strands of blue hair and shook her head of all the doubt that was starting to flood into her mind. '_Open your mind… You tried to warn me too Nusvext, but I guess it's too late for redemption, at least I'll get to see you in the life, right?_' she yawned and looked back at Ames.

"I guess you got what you wanted…" Xauqa said frowning. "You got to repeat history just like you wanted to, whether you tried to or not." Ames growled trying to break free from the vines, but winced noticing that thorns were digging into the skin as she tried to get out. "Struggle as much as you want, but the only thing you'll get are scars if you survive."

"Aren't you afraid?" she asked.

"Of course I am!" Xauqa said glaring up at Ames. "I've been scared since the first day I came here. You…" she pointed at the girl in the plain black dress. "It's your fault!" she screamed.

"…" Ames heard her cry for the first time. '_She didn't cry when Terra left… She didn't when she found out about Nusvext. Now moments before a battle Xauqa decides to shed tears._ _I'll take responsibility for this once everything is done, but what can one person do? I guess that's how you feel too, right?_' she looked down at Xauqa as the castle Administrator dried her tears. "I suppose it is my fault, but just as much as it is your own, and you know it."

"It's too late for a lecture…"

"Just some advice for your new life."

"That's right, you…" Xauqa laughed uncontrollably shaking her head. "You don't want to go back with your original, do you?"

"And give up all of this?" Ames looked around the area. '_Okay, so I mean not this THIS, but all the good memories…_' at least she was able to make number eleven smile for a moment. '_See there' still some good in you!_'

**Xejicka **

The member stumbled around the lower basements trying to see if she could find some survivors, but it didn't seem like she would find anyone at this point. '_25 floors in this whole castle and I can't find any of the underground members… don't tell… Wait so then that means…_' Xejicka shook her head, and heard something in back of her. Xejicka turned around with a chakram in her head, and sighed in relief watching the display of water for a moment. '_Stupid Xehart…_' she chuckled.

"They're asking for you…" the male said softly looking around. The place was starting to look like a war devastated area. "No doubt it's to try and get Terra back."

"… I don't know where he is." Xejicka said softly looking around. There weren't any cameras left on the building. "Knowing him he's gotten rid of all the cameras here."

"That's like him all right…" Xehart said pulling his hood down. "So what's the plan?"

"We can't do anything until they're done upstairs." She said rubbing the back of her head.

"You look… exhausted…" Xehart said grinning. "I take it they're strong then."

"The girl… she's stronger than she looks. I couldn't fight her head on like I wanted too though, but Sora's just as strong." Xejicka said breathing in slowly, her head was killing her. '_I'm tired that's what it is…_' she thought shaking her head.

"Huh…" Xehart took in the information with an attentive look and shook his head. "What's he like?"

"Sora…?" she asked, as Xehart nodded in response. "I could say that he's a dud, but… I don't know… the future could prove me wrong."

"They're all so young…" Xehart said walking down the hallway. "Also I came to tell you that the Superior recruited some new wielders thanks to Ruxsud and Rax… Though I don't think Rax knows how much he helped with that stunt of his."

"What are you talking about?" Xejicka asked following after the _Melodious Nocturne_ down the hallway. He was humming something that seemed oddly familiar to Xejicka's ears but she couldn't pin a name on the melody. "Xehart come on, what are you talking about?" the green eyed member finally turned around and thought about whether or not he should reveal some information.

"I don't know if I should tell you, but in any case seeing as how we're friends and all. Ruxsud transported some key chains back to HQ, courtesy of Terra and his meddling with Sora's memories."

"Are you sure?" she asked scratching the side of her head. For some reason she found it hard to believe, but Xehart wasn't known to lie. "How did he meddle with them?"

"Just after Nusvext gave them that card. I was tipped off by one of the underground members not that long before things got out of hand over here."

"That would explain why he got so touchy when it came to Ames…" she smirked. "In any case it won't do anything, once their memories get erased."

"True… I suppose once this is done you're going to help Terra and Ames escape, am I right?"

Xejicka look up at the white ceiling trying to think of a good answer. "If I do… You want to come with us?"

"I'd need a doppelganger to take my place though…"

"I don't have one either, but that doesn't stop me from being a…" she shook her head. Within this place even the walls had ears.

"I get-cha… Where's Xiaga anyway…?"

Xejicka shrugged. "He's probably trying to get Terra to come back."

"This whole organization is screwed…"

"Tell me about it…" she said as the two of them walked down the crumbling white hallway.

**Winding Staircase **

"How many more?!" Amaterasu yelled taking her anger out on the Heartless that started to appear on the long winding staircase. With each step that they took more Heartless appeared in their wake. Goofy threw his shield at the oncoming Heartless in the area. Sora ran up the stairs, slashing every Heartless in the area that his eyes could capture. The blue eyed teen watched as Oblivion rammed into a nearby Heartless and watched the creature fly back. Sora pushed back several Shadow Heartless and watched as a Firaga spell of red and orange engulfed several Heartless in the distance.

"You two run, we'll hold them off!" Goofy yelled as more Heartless were starting to run up the stairs clumsily. Amaterasu shook her head, and Sora jumped, flipping into the air, sending his Keyblade down on an unsuspecting Heartless. Amaterasu moved to the left, and slashed at the Heartless that was down one a stair. Donald was a bit frustrated, but they needed the help whether they had left or not. Something flew by them near the staircase, and the Heartless ceased their movements, looking up at the sky. Everything was coated in darkness except for the white staircase.

"Run!" Donald quacked running up the stairs in a waddling motion. Goofy followed behind and Sora and Amaterasu stared up at the darkness trying to capture a glimpse of whatever it was. '_It's got tremendous power…_' Sora thought, and saw that his companion nodded. '_You think we can handle it?_' she asked, to which Sora responded with a war like yell slashing at the nearby Heartless. Again the sound of massive wings cutting into the air filled their ears, and they looked to the side. Something was approaching the air at Heartless like speed. '_A dragon?_' Amaterasu asked. '_No… It's a Heartless dragon._' Sora said blocking an attack from above, a Neo Shadow had wandered into the group. '_What's the difference?!_' she answered back, throwing a Shadow Heartless down the stairs.

"We're not going to be able to right in this cramped space…" Sora said moving back slowly. Amaterasu was right next to him, holding Oblivion tightly in her grasp. Kingdom Key was held to the side getting ready to retreat. Amaterasu growled at the thought, she knew he was right, but she didn't just want to the leave the huge beast intact. '_Fine…_' she growled and ran back up the stairs with Sora right behind her. "Plus it'd make no sense to go and rescue her if we're all beat up!"

"That's true!" Amaterasu said slashing at the nearby Heartless up the stairs. "Thundaga!" she yelled watching bolts of lightning come down on the heads of several creatures fabricated by darkness. Donald and Goofy were several feet up and they were fighting for a way to clear a path for the two of them. Sora moved his right shoulder back dodging a claw from one of the Neo Shadows. He smirked and jabbed Kingdom Key into the chest of his opponent. Amaterasu dodged multiple claws that were aiming for her heart, and when they were caught off guard she sent her Keyblade to the side, knocking them off the staircase. "We're almost there!"

The blue eyed teen looked back down the stairs and noticed more were starting to climb up the white steps. '_Darn…_' he looked back at Amaterasu and she nodded slightly. Within minutes Kingdom Key and Oblivion were lodged into on plain white step. Their masters grabbed the handle and twisted it like a key. Something erupted from the two Keyblade, Dark and light energy orbs began to eat away at the staircase below their feet. '_Stupid idea!_' Amaterasu thought running up the stairs in a frenzy. Sora summoned back Kingdom Key and had Oblivion in his grasp. "Ammi!" his eyes went wide with shock as he lost his balance. He held out his hand quickly, and luckily Amaterasu wasn't that far ahead of him. She grabbed on tightly to his hand and pulled him up hastily.

Donald and Goofy were already at the foot of the door, and watched as Amaterasu and Sora threw themselves down at their feet, clinging on tightly. "What are you two doing?" the mage asked squinting in confusion.

"The floor…" Sora panted heavily. "We broke off the staircase…" Donald and Goofy looked down slightly and noticed that half of the staircase was engulfed by nothingness, the sight alone was enough to make them jump at the idea of falling. '_They've each gotten stronger…_' Donald thought.

"You two look worn out…" Goofy said pulling out something from the pouch on his side. "Here why not share an Elixir?"

"Waterfall…" Amaterasu said scolding Sora for something that happened in the past. Sora laughed sheepishly, and tilted the drink, just so that it could hover over his lips. The green content fell into his mouth, and at an instance it felt like his strength had returned. Amaterasu took the rink away from Sora's grasp telling him that he couldn't hog it all. "That feels much better…" the dark skinned girl said softly sighing in contempt.

"Here…" Sora said pulling out a keychain with a black crown on it. "You ran up the stairs too quickly to summon it back." She expressed gratitude and looked at the white massive doors that signaled their final stage. "We're going to need a good head on our shoulder, and a strong heart." The brown spiky hared teen said standing up.

"Donald, Goofy…" Amaterasu picked herself up and took some of the dust off on her shoulder. "While we're fighting that Xauqa lady, take that opportunity to get Ames out of there, okay?" the two knights nodded in agreement. With that Sora and Amaterasu pushed open the door to the last stage. '_This final battle…_' the two of them thought.

Xauqa looked up from the light that seemed to pierce through the dark room. "That was quick…" she said softly to herself, her blue eyes fixing on the image of the two Keyblade wielders in her view. Xauqa snapped her fingers and in an instant green vines moved away from the floor and ceiling, letting the light in. Dark brown eyes and blue eyes looked into the distance to see a thrown created entirely out of flower petals. "What in the world?" the two teens muttered to themselves.

"Welcome, to my flower garden." She said smiling. A noticeable blue rose was in her gloved hand. Amaterasu stared at the blue petal that fell. '_You gave me a blue rose…_' she thought trying to remember his name. In that instant Sora and Amaterasu felt cool air rush past their ears. "I'll make sure you leave your bodies here…" she whispered right in between them, "I promise I'll try to make it not so painful…" Sora growled, and jumped back summoning Kingdom Key to his hand. Amaterasu watched as Xauqa retreated back to her throne for a moment. The dark skinned girl brought out Oblivion, and raised it over her shoulder mimicking a style she had seen replayed over in her mind.

Xauqa outstretched her head and created several duplicates of her own image. These clones were created from flower petals of all different colors. The clones advanced forward with fabricated scythes in their position and circled the two teens. Donald and Goofy moved carefully through the area to where Ames was. In the distance behind the throne a young silver hared teen with dark skin sat in a cage fabricated from green thick vines. Her hands where cuffed with more vines, with several thorns around the restraining device.

Sora and Amaterasu stood back to back watching the clones move around in a counter clock wise motion. '_You ready?_' she asked Sora. '_Ready as I'll ever be, Dark… I mean Amaterasu… sorry it's hard getting use to the name._' Sora replied and lunged forward with his Keyblade at hand. Amaterasu stood still watching as one of the clones moved their right foot forward, it was then she ran forward with her Keyblade at hand, ready to strike down the clone. The scythes moved in a flurry of flower petals and Sora and Amaterasu had a hard time blocking the attacks from several clones. Sora moved back, and noticed that one clone was going to attack his companion from behind. "Firaga!" he yelled watching as a fire ball collided with the clone. It was condensed to ashes upon impact.

"Firaga!" Amaterasu yelled watching a fireball go straight into the belly of another clone. Pretty soon it was down to two clones. Amaterasu brought her weapon forward, blocking the scythe. Sora was launched into the air, and managed to catch the weapon of the clone's choice, sending it back down to the ground. The dark skinned girl moved to the side and slashed upwards vertically, cutting the clone. Sora still had the fabricated scythe in his possession, and slashed down diagonally as the clone died at the hands of its own weapon.

Xauqa got up from her throne and applauded. "Congratulations Keyblade bearers on making it this far…" within that moment something knocked back Donald and goofy from aiding the Memory Witch. "You'll have to fight me two on one I'm afraid…" with that she summoned in scythe, as it was summoned pink and blue flower petals started to fall down to the ground and within moments a white light enveloped the weapon as it made its way to its master's hand. She moved with such speed that it seemed like she was levitating off of the ground. Sora jumped back avoiding a direct hit from the scythe, and Amaterasu moved forward locking her weapon with the scythe. Sora maneuvered himself carefully and pushed the scythe back giving Amaterasu some time to recover.

The scythe collided with the two Keyblades, and pushed the two wielders back with the force of a wave. As the two teens stumbled Xauqa took the opportunity to send the two flying into the air, knocking them off of their feet. Sora turned to the right avoiding a direct hit in midair, Amaterasu on the other hand wasn't so lucky. Within moments she withdrew into a deadly state, her eye teeming with the power of darkness. '_She's mad now…_' Sora thought watching the humanoid Heartless push back the _Graceful Assassin_. The female humanoid Heartless zipped past the _Graceful Assassin_ and used a powerful Dark Aura attack. Sora ran forward knowing his cue, and jumped into the air moving his Keyblade over his head. In a flash the assassin disappeared, and Sora's weapon collided with the Dark Aura attack. Amaterasu looked back, her yellow eyes staring at the blue hared female before them. She ran forward on all fours with brute speed causing cracks on the ground. Sora followed with his preferred weapon at hand, and both launched their attacks on the girl before them. Xauqa flinched slightly creating a barrier on the oncoming attack.

The gash on her right arm hadn't healed all that well. '_Damn…_' she thought jumping back slightly. Sora moved to the side with a sudden burst of speed and soon the _Graceful Assassin_ felt something hit her shoulder. Amaterasu looked around feeling something in the air. '_Sora… something's coming!_' there was a sudden roar, and Xauqa disappeared in a flash of light. The two teens covered their eyes, and looked around the area once the bright illumination faded away. The dark skinned girl was surprised to see herself back in her human form. The blue eyed male teen looked around noticing a faint red platform under their feet, he looked around noticing all the stars that were shining. At the far end was a silver hued dragon with the familiar crest of a Nobody on its forehead.

Xauqa was tucked safely inside, controlling the dragon-like creature with ease. Around the sides of it were flower buds. Xauqa said a simple incantation and the flower buds opened, revealing their real use, these were laser like weapons. The flower buds danced around Amaterasu and Sora, sending laser like bullets all around them. Sora twirled his Keyblade about sending the lasers backwards. Amaterasu pulled out Way to Night, and blocked the lasers with some ease. '_Its harder than it looks…_' she thought moving to the side once in a while. Sora would move backwards while she moved forward protecting herself and him. Sora moved back protecting Amaterasu's blind spot, and blocked oncoming bullets.

The two of them protected one another until the barrage of lasers finally died down. Sora grabbed Oblivion from Amaterasu and jumped into the air, spinning around like a top creating a whirlwind of some sort, destroying the arsenal with ease now. The dragon like creature moved forward at this point and launched Sora high into the air. '_No!_' his companion watched for a spilt second and parried against the dragon like creature. The creature moved its claw back ready to strike, but Sora caught himself and launched his Keyblade down, striking the head of the creature. It stumbled backwards, and the keeper of Way to Night moved in on her prey, slashing at the creature as it let out a roar of pain.

The dragon like creature was trashing about in pain breaking the platform that held it up in the sky. Xauqa broke her form, and reappeared on top of the creature. She ran forward taking hold of her scythe once more, and jabbed the dull part of her weapon into the stomach of Amaterasu, sending the teen to stumble backwards. Amaterasu caught herself as the platform began to tilt backwards, stabbing her Keyblade into the structure. Sora slide down the platform, and was caught by Amaterasu. He in turn stabbed his Keyblade into the ground of the platform, both holding on for dear life.

"For some reason last time seemed easier…" Sora said wincing slightly. Amaterasu looked at him slightly, and shook her head. "Don't expect things to be easy the second time around…" she said noticing something from the corner of her eye. "You've got to be kidding me…" the two of them said noticing the massive wings of the Nobody, it flew straight at the platform, trying to knock them off balance. "Darn…" Sora growled, trying to think of something. "Ammi, when I say 'now' grab my Keyblade, okay?" she nodded. The dragon started to circle around once more getting ready to ram its head into the platform. "NOW!" he yelled falling down, and Amaterasu watched as he landed on the head of the beast.

"SORA?! What are you doing?" Amaterasu called back holding on tightly to Way of Night and Kingdom Key. Sora had Oblivion in his hand, and within moments the Keyblade was lodged into the forehead of the Nobody. '_You idiot…_' she thought pushing herself off of the titled platform. The dragon was right beneath her, and the gust of wind was enough to almost push her back. Sora held on tightly to the lodged Keyblade, and watched as Amaterasu caught herself, stabbing the two weapons into the back of the dragon. The beat let out a mighty roar, and started to descend back to the infinite void of darkness from below the platform. Up above them chunks of the platform were crashing down.

"The gap's too big, we won't make it!" Sora yelled over the roaring wind, Amaterasu was formulating a plan in her head. She made it up to the head, using the two Keyblades like ice picks.

"I wasn't thinking about me!" she said quickly, throwing Sora into the air with the strength she had left. She noticed that Kingdom Key had disappeared, withdrawing back to its master. Sora reached a crumbling part of the platform, and jumped quickly over to the next piece of falling debris until h could use his Keyblade to grab on once more. Amaterasu smiled sadly and notice that the drop had no end in sight. '_I'm not going to die, not yet… But how can I get back up?_' time was running out for all of them, and Xauqa was nowhere in sight. The dragon was still trashing about, knocking its massive wings into the platform. '_That's it!_' she stabbed Way to Night into the platform, and pulled Oblivion from the forehead of the beast.

In seconds of the event darkness began to slow the platform, and Sora found himself falling backwards. Amaterasu lost the grip on her Keyblade and found herself doing the same. Xauqa rematerialized back to the top of the Nobody like dragon and sent a bolt of energy towards to the two of them. '_It's an illusion!_' something yelled in their minds. Amaterasu thought her mind was playing tricks on her, but Sora shook his head hearing the same voice. Xauqa growled watching the energy bolt disappear moments before impact. '_Damn…_' she cursed at herself, feeling her boots touch the surface of a white room.

The room wasn't swallowed up by the darkness, and no stars decorated the void around them. They were back in the room surrounded by plants, everything was just the way it was, but Sora and Amaterasu felt exhausted. '_The fight was real, but not the room…_' the two of them thought shaking their heads. Xauqa stepped back with her scythe behind her, watching Donald and Goofy fight off several man eating plants. For right now the _Graceful Assassin_ succeeded in wearing the two Keyblade wielders out.

"I don't want to fight you guys…" the blue hared organization member said softly. "Now…" she drew her weapon forward. "Al you have to do is just tell me the right answer, and I'll stop…"

The two teens looked down for a moment, the offer seemed to good to be true, but…

"Don't listen to her!" Donald and Goofy said getting caught off guard. "Just get rid of her already!"

Ames watched as Xauqa ran forward, knocking both of the teens to the ground. '_Come on you guys, get up!_' she thought trying to get out from her cage. Sora picked himself up running forward with his Keyblade in his hand. He knocked the scythe to the side, but once that happen the scythe went back, striking him down to the ground. '_…Get up Ammi, get up! He needs help!_' she thought watching the fight. "Get up!" she screamed. Ames froze in place watching Amaterasu knock Xauqa back, the _Graceful Assassin_ was ready to annihilate a defenseless Keyblade wielder.

"That's cowardly!" the female Keyblade wielder said, defending Sora at all costs. The scythe moved upward vertically, but she jumped back, throwing Oblivion against the weapon. Sora picked himself up and with help from Amaterasu gathered enough speed to run forward. The opponent disappeared in a flash of flower petals, and something caught their attention. Donald yelled out in surprise, and the two teen looks back, Ames was being held in a head lock, with no means of escape, but at least she was out of the cage.

"You're letting your other two friends down then…?" she asked.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves…" Sora yelled out clutching the handle of his Keyblade. '_Ammi, go from the back, and I'll take the front…_' Amaterasu summoned Oblivion back, and dual wielded for the final strike. '_What if I hit her?_' she asked, disappearing from sight in a dark aura. '_I'll make sure you won't…_' Sora answered her quickly, as he ran forward.

Xauqa felt something in back of her and moved to the side quickly, avoiding a blow to the head. Ames flinched feeling the gust of air pass by. Amaterasu growled moving back for a moment. Sora jumped into the air flipping forward with enough force to strike. As Xauqa blocked Amaterasu took her cue to gather strength, but petals flew past her. The female wielder winced, feeling cuts form around her arms. '_Damn it!_' she thought pulling back. Sora landed on the ground and Ames struggled to move away. '_This isn't good… Not good at all…_' the memory witch thought trying to think of something. '_I can't set fire to the vines, I'll burn myself…_' she thought.

Oblivion flew like a javelin soaring through the air, and upon impact drew blood from the left shoulder of the _Graceful Assassin_. It was enough to get Ames to run to safety, and Sora caught her quickly. Petals began to dance around the _Graceful Assassin_ and move with fury around Amaterasu and Sora. '_Now's your chance Sora!_' Amaterasu thought not moving. The scythe moved like a throwing disc aiming itself straight for Sora. He blocked it with ease, and caught the handle, breaking the pattern of the dancing petals, and found himself running forward with the familiar weapon drawn into the air. A gust of wind erupted from the slash and sent another trail of blood down the right shoulder. With that Sora discarded the scythe and used his Keyblade to end it all. Kingdom Key was lodged into the stomach of the opponent, and Xauqa coughed, she had been careless for the last few seconds.

Amaterasu fell to her knees, panting heavily, and noticed that Donald had set flame to the surrounding plants near by. The Memory Witch looked back and noticed the trail of crimson that ran down the white tiles, Xauqa had a satisfied look on her face before letting her physical go. Sora watched as blue flower petals took the shape of her body, and without anytime spared broke down. This was finally the end of their struggle as the last petal disappeared.

Sora sighed in relief, and rubbed his eyes, feeling something moist start to fall from the event. He helped take off the thorny vines from Ames' wrist, and smiled. "Sorry we couldn't get here earlier…" he said. Ames noticed that the smile on his face was sincere, and in an instant she hugged him tightly.

"Didn't matter if you got here early or late… you did it!" she whispered letting him go. Amaterasu picked herself up and smiled weakly, waving slightly to Ames. Without a second thought the silver hared teen ran down the room hugging her familiar as tight as she could.

"Don't ever go messing with things like that again…" Amaterasu said feeling tears fall down for some reason. "You're stupid, you know that?" she regained control of her voice and let go of Ames, drying her tears. "It's going to kill you if you're not careful."

"I know…" Ames said drying her tears and looked back at Donald and Goofy. "Tell King Mickey I said thank you as well, all right?" the two knights nodded and Donald then placed a Curaga spell on all of them. "Now, we should hurry up…" Ames said taking both teen by the hand, and opening another white door in the room. "You'll get your answers soon…"

Sora noticed several tall flower bud pods and ran towards one of them. He watched the reflection in one, and noticed someone with blonde hair and blue eyes smile at him. '_You're Roxas, right?_' he asked himself, and strangely enough another voice replied saying 'yes'. Sora sighed scratching his head, and grinned:

"I remember now… It's been my second time here." The spiky brown hared teen said looking back at the others.

"It's my first time here Sora, don't rub it in!" Amaterasu said flopping on the floor. "I just want to rest…"

"You can't regain your memories out here though." Ames said softly, as she placed her hands together. "You've got to sleep in these pods." She said pointing to the white structures.

"We've got to sleep…" Amaterasu said sighing.

"It'll take some time." Ames said reassuring the two Keyblade wielders that everything was going to be fine. "But it's for your own good, so you can regain your memories just like they were before."

"We'll see you later then…" Donald and Goofy waved. "Have a nice nap."

Amaterasu touched one of the flower like pods and hopped into it trying to figure if she was suppose to sit down or just stand up. Ames smiled slightly and watched as Sora stepped in waving slightly. She expressed words of thanks to both Sora and Amaterasu once more, and apologized. "Ammi… Sora…" she paused trying to smile. "I'm really glad I met the two of you face to face."

"You make it seem like you're saying goodbye forever…" the other two said in unison. "We'll see you again soon though, right after we wake up!" Amaterasu said cheerfully.

Ames looked down trying not to say anything. Sora stretched out his hand from the pod, and Amaterasu did the same. "We'll see each other again…" the two said doing a pinky promise. "We promise." They said in a cheerful tone. Ames drew back her hands and watched as the pods began to close, Amaterasu sitting down and Sora stood up, both of them were waving goodbye as the flower like pod closed its petals.

"Are you going to come with us, Ames?" Goofy asked watching the silver hared girl look back at the pods. She nodded.

"But there are some things I want to get first, if you don't mind. They could prove to help us out." Donald and Goofy nodded and followed Ames outside the room catching one last glimpse of the two Keyblade wielders, they were already fast asleep.

**With Xiaga **

Xiaga sighed for a moment following the scent of their former thirteen member. '_Where is he going?_' Xiaga asked himself following behind; he noticed that there was another scent in the air, one with the presence of light around their being. '_It stinks…_' the _Cloaked Schemer _thought trying hard not to cough from the distasteful aroma that mingled with the darkness. Xiaga kept his lexicon close to his side, knowing that he was going to have to 'fight' the former _Key of Destiny_ sooner if not later.

Rax, or Terra as he goes by now stopped looking around the hallways for a moment. He watched a memory replay in his mind. Two individuals were smiling and calling out his name, waving sea salt ice-cream in their hands. Two other people stood side by side waving slightly with an amused look on their faces. '_I wonder if I'll get to see Ven, Aqua, Xejicka, and __Ames__ again. It gets a bit lonely without someone around here._'

"I miss them a lot…" he said softly placing Two Across over his shoulder and continued walking forward. Something didn't seem right in his heart, but he ignored it and pressed on. "I wonder if I'll get to see them again…" he asked himself.

"I don't really think they'd want to see you anyway…" someone said in front of him. A slightly older member, roughly around the age of being in his late twenties confronted him. The _Key of Destiny_ brought Two Across in front of him, bring it over his shoulder ready to strike. "You're pretty much not qualified to see them, is more like it." Xiaga said brushing his dark blue bangs to the side, watching the former member's movements.

Terra growled, trying not to advance forward. '_I haven't seen him fight not even once…_' he thought trying to predict his move, but Xiaga seemed unpredictable at this early stage. '_But I can't make eye…_' at that moment Xiaga's dark blue eyes locked onto Terra, and this thought was interrupted as something reappeared from the shadows.

"Now, Terra, take a look at your true self." The voice said as something began to raise from the dark aura surrounding Xiaga. Terra watched image race through his mind. In one image he was there grinning in malice as a fallen Keyblade wielder laid on the ground begging for mercy. '_The light was a cruel thing…_' Xiaga's voice echoed through his head. Another image ran through his head, how he had closed the door to light, shutting it off from future generations.

"You didn't deserve to wield the Keyblade from the realm of light." A figure with blonde hair and blue eyes appeared, wearing familiar armor from long ago. He held Way to Dawn in his left hand, the expression of anger was there.

"Ventus… Wait, I--" Terra dodged an attack from the Keyblade, and blocked it, pushing the image back. '_This is too real to be a trick of the mind!_' Terra thought, blocking another devastating blow.

"Why… Why'd it pick you, you traitor!?" Ventus yelled in rage making a direct hit to Terra's shoulder.

"I never wanted it!" Terra yelled ramming his Keyblade forward; knocking Ventus back a couple of inches. Even if it was an illusion it was starting to irritate him. '_I don't need to be reminded, I know it already!_' his mind yelled. Ventus aimed his Keyblade straight at Terra and a dark aura started to form around him.

"You deserve to fade into darkness!" an aura shot out from the tip of the Keyblade and hit Terra in the chest. Ventus' image began to fade from sight, and Xiaga was there for a spilt second. Terra opened his eyes and noticed that everything was dark.

_"Consumed by the darkness? Maybe that's not so bad…"_ he said to himself feeling something solid underneath his feet.

Abedo ran forward, knocking Xiaga down to the ground. "Like hell you will!" the replica growled picking up the _Cloaked_ _Schemer_, and pinning him against the wall.

_"Maybe it's not so bad…"_ He said to himself staring up at the infinite void in the area. Darkness was swirling about, just moving around with time.

You can't be consumed…

_"Who's that? It's not Mickey…"_

You can't be defeated so easily, am I right? Not the light and not the dark. Don't run from the darkness as if it was evil, and don't fear something you don't understand yet. The light in your heart is infinite, but if you look deep enough you'll find that darkness that resides in your heart. If you can look at it without fear, then you'll be strong…

Terra winced slightly, watching a shining light pierce through the darkness.

Abedo brought Soul Eater down as he continued his mental connection, Xiaga would pose no threat, seeing as how he was already losing connection with Terra. "Darkness can help you see through the brightest light, and light will help you escape the deepest darkness… That's why…"

The connection was lost as a lexicon came, hurdling forward, knocking Abedo to the side. He growled and ran forward ready to strike the schemer down for the count. King Mickey watched from behind one of the white pillars, never expecting something like this to happen. '_Do you want him to see on his own?_' he asked looking up at the ceiling trying to imagine someone he knew was responsible for this.

Terra reappeared from the void, wearing an identical suit, similar to Abedo's but no fabric clung to his belt, instead a coat created purely out of dark energy was over him, with a thing white chain around his neck.

"Come… back to us… Terra…" Xiaga said straining to speak. Terra noticed that the replica had come, aiding him in the process. Terra shook his head, and in a flash his Keyblade pierced right through his heart. Abedo moved back slightly, watching as piece from Xiaga's lexicon started to fall apart, and soon fade away.

"How did you…?" Terra panted slightly trying to ask Abedo a simple question but something echoed through the corridor. '_What's your decision?_' the voice asked. '_Or rather what's your conclusion?_' Terra shook his head. "My heart had weakened… from both the light and the darkness… I'm ready to face you now, Xehanort…"

The figure let out a laugh. "I've been waiting to hear that… It's about time, Terra…" the figure from his heart noticed the replica. "I see you've made a friend… You're going to bring him down too?"

"Let's just finish this… I wasn't able to kill you then, but I can now!" his heart raced forward battling with the darkness that had invaded itself, and found a host. The apparition of Xehanort consisted of a taller male wearing a dark battle suit with a black helmet. The apparition dodged an attack from the Keyblade. "Darkness consumed you, but not me." He said calmly.

An aura was hurtled forward, and Terra's own heart managed to stay strong. "I've been able to stay alive because of you, because you let the darkness in!" something grabbed Terra by the throat. '_No!_' Abedo thought rushing forward and slicing the hand from the massive dark coated arm. "You can have your every desire, let me help you Terra."

"I've got promises to keep…" Terra said coughing slightly. "And you're not going to stop me…" Soul Eater had pierced through the heart of the apparition, and Two Across was lodged into the chest. "You're finished." Terra and the replica said in unison.

"Why did you help me?" Terra asked looking back at the replica. "You didn't have to."

"It was…" Abedo noticed that darkness had settled in on the two of them, and something didn't seem right. "Shit…"

Light broke through the darkness, and a figure wearing black clothing appeared, with a Keyblade of inversed colors over his shoulder. "Terra… and you. Sorry I couldn't come a bit earlier…" he was lying of course, and the replica smirked, moving back slightly. King Mickey looked up at Terra and smiled. "I finally caught up with you."

"Mickey…?" Terra advanced slightly, and placed his hands on the ears of the royal mouse. "No way, I'm dreaming…"

Abedo smacked the original wielder of Kingdom Key and shook his head. Terra crouched down feeling the pain. King Mickey looked back at the replica:

"And you are?"

"My name is Abedo…" the replica said softly bowing. "To answer your question, Terra. Ames asked me to find you, I guess she was worried about you."

"Rax!" someone yelled across the hallway. Terra felt a pair of arms wrap around him in a tight hug. "You came back!"

"Hey Xejicka…" Terra said hugging her.

"The _Key of Destiny_ himself…" someone said from behind her. Terra grinned watching the _Melodious Nocturne_ wave. "It's about time we found you!"

"I'm going to tell Ames now…" the chakram wielder said happily.

"Wait…!"

Just before Xejicka was going to disappear, Terra shook his head and protested. Abedo sighed and dragged him away to another corner of the hallway. From what Xehart and Xejicka saw the two were arguing about something. King Mickey laughed nervously, and introduced himself to the two Soulless. '_They're not like the others…_' the King thought remembering how one with no soul has no individuality.

**In ****Destiny** **Islands**

Riku finally woke up, his head and his ribs were aching. The scene before him was blurry, but all he could see were another pair of blue eyes staring down at him. '_Kairi?_' he thought looking at the female before her, but she had blue hair, not red hair.

"Ventus, you're still zealous as always…" the female said smacking her companion over the head. "You could've killed him!"

"But I didn't!" the blonde hared teen said looking sourly at the girl. She wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a black shirt with a rose made out of a red blood splattered silhouette, and a pair of earrings. "Jeez Aqua, relax…"

"Can you stand, Riku?" the female asked him. She stretched out her hand, and he took it, trying to think of something. "I apologize for my friend's behavior, he gets to eager sometimes…"

Riku shook his head and walked around, they were still at the beach, and the daylight was starting to fade. He looked back at the two of them and sighed, none of this was making sense to him at all. "Oh… Amaterasu, that girl…" Aqua began. "She's doing fine. You don't remember her, do you?" Riku shook his head.

"You will, in time, but we can't stick around here too long…"

Riku smirked hearing Ventus' comment. "You've got no place to stay, where the heck are you going to go?"

The blonde hared teen growled for a moment and looked away. Aqua shook her head and sighed in relief. "The good thing is that you're all right, but…"

"I can ask Kairi if she can arrange something… her father's the mayor." For some reason Riku say the two as posing no real threat.

"We'll train you in return." Aqua said bowing graciously. Ventus on the other hand scowled.

**In the White room **

Ames shoved all the journals from her bookshelf into a tan colored bag, and sighed, hearing a knock from the outside. She hurried up and opened the door slowly with the bag at her side, nodding her head as she looked back at the two knights before her. Donald and Goofy walked with her down the hallway and heard door ahead of them open.

" Ames…! Ames!" Xejicka yelled cupping her hands over her mouth. "He's back! He's back!" she yelled running down the hallway. The chakram wielder couldn't sop laughing. "Terra's here… with a mouse… and the replica too. You were right Ames, he did come back." the Memory Witch smiled and nodded to the two knights.

The scene shifted and Terra came face to face with Xejicka and Ames. He smiled and hugged both of them simultaneously. His age had changed slightly, he looked around the age of twenty. Soulless can change their whole being if they so wished. Xehart and Abedo watched as Xejicka, Terra, and Ames expressed words that only a strong friendship could produce. The two males shook their heads and sighed in relief.

"I can't leave yet…" Ames said softly, handing the bag to the royal Mouse. "I want to thank you so much, King Mickey, for everything. Here are the journals from the past members, but not the one from the Superior himself. I'm going to stay behind and look after Sora and Amaterasu, which reminds me… I need to send a letter to Mr. Brooks." She pushed back some strands of silver hair.

"Hey, Ames… That black dog thing…" Xejicka began scratching the back of her head. "What was that anyway?" she asked describing the battle with the four legged beast.

"That… It's her dog, Chico, but its name is Umbra now. She's the one who gave him the amulet on his necklace, a Shadow Hound summoning, they're intelligent creatures…" the Memory Witch said softly, rubbing the side of her head, she seemed to be a bit tired.

Ames, the Memory Witch, was no longer held down by the Organization, and had changed her outfit as a result. She wore Capri like shorts of a dark hue, and a light colored shirt with a red stitched crown in the front and a Heartless symbol in the back with red and white checkered shoes. "I have to stay and make sure they get their memories back, and besides, someone's going to have to burn this place to the ground, I don't want things to repeat again." She said softly to everyone.

"I guess we could postpone our leave…" Xehart said placing his hands on his head in a laid-back manner. Terra was fumbling around with something around his neck, until Abedo had to help him out. Abedo handed the necklace back to Ames, and tried to withdraw from the scene.

"Thank you very much Abedo, for helping him." She said softly kissing the replica on the cheek. "It means a lot to all of us." all eyes where on her as she walked away from the group, going up the white steps one last time. Traveling through the hallways recollecting the memories she had broken. Her mind was at peace now. '_I wonder if Naminé felt this way…?_' she asked herself before her hand finally rested against the final door. This would be its second time that something of this nature would happen, and the Memory Witch wanted to make sure that it was the last time. The door closed softly, and she stared at the two pods containing the keepers of light and darkness.

The world is made up of light and darkness, it's a tale almost as old as time itself. '_Rest up you two, a new day's going to be dawning on all of us…_' she thought letting her fingertips touch the two pods softly. '_We need you two more than ever…_'

**A/N:** (edited) Part Two will be its own story, sorry you guys for making you wait!


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